Wilcon sales grow 11 per cent in the first quarter

Wilcon Depot, the Philippines' top home improvement retailer, saw an 11.4 per cent increase in net sales for the first quarter of 2023. The increase was chalked up to base effects as it noted a slowdown in same store-sales growth.

Wilcon reported net sales of 8.527 bn Philippine pesos (EUR 139.621 mio) in the first three months of the year. "Our first-quarter performance reflected the impact of the base effect as our sales growth tapered off, even as our average daily sales increased month-on-month for the quarter," Wilcon CEO Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said in a statement.

Wilcon's comparable sales hit 3.3 per cent for the quarter, much slower than the 10.4 per cent growth posted in the fourth quarter of 2022 and 8.6 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year.

Based on format, Wilcon's depots accounted for 97.4 per cent of the company's take, while the smaller Home Essentials format contributed two per cent. The company opened two new branches during the period, bringing its total store network at the end of March to 85.

Belo-Cincochan noted that given the "encouraging performance" of stores that are less than a year old, the company may exceed this year's target for new stores by up to three. "We are looking to exceed our target new store openings this year from eight to up to eleven. This is also so we can proceed with the rationalisation of a couple of our bottom-dwelling Home Essentials branches while staying on track to meet our 100-store target by next year," she said.