Puregold eyes more acquisitions

MANILA, Philippines — Lucio Co’s retail empire is on the lookout for possible acquisitions as part of efforts to adapt to changing consumer behavior.

“The group is always on the lookout for opportunistic buying and strategic acquisition along the lines we are engaged in. Other than that, expansion is being done on an organic manner by adding more stores and locations but even with organic expansion we continue to look out for strategic acquisitions,” Cosco Capital president and Puregold director Leonardo Dayao said during the company’s virtual annual stockholders meeting.

On acquiring a logistics company, Dayao said the group looked at it in the past and that it continues to do so but nothing has materialized so far.

Co sought the approval of shareholders to retain the same board of directors, saying that any changes now will burden the company instead of helping it overcome the global pandemic.

Reelected during Tuesday’s meeting were the same board led by Co as chairman, Susan Co as vice chairman, directors Ferdinand Vincent Co, Pamela Co, Leonardo Dayao, Jack Huang and independent directors Jaime Dela Rosa, Edgardo Lacson and Marilyn Pardo.

Puregold said it would continue to strengthen its online channels, deploy mobile stores and expand its store network nationwide.

The company is looking to roll out 300 Puregold caravans in strategic locations and communities to enable more customers to have access to consumer goods, said Puregold board consultant Levi Labra.

It plans to add 30 stores this year and hit close to 450 from 403 as of end-December 2020.

Puregold reported an unaudited consolidated net income of P8.05 billion last year, up 18.9 percent from P6.77 billion in 2019.