Wilcon sets P3.5 billion capex this year

MANILA, Philippines — Wilcon Depot Inc. (Wilcon), the listed home and construction materials company, has set aside a capital expenditures budget of P3.5 billion this year.

Of the amount, P600 million had already been spent by the company while  remaining P2.9 billion will be used for store expansion and to upgrade existing outlets, Wilcon president Lorraine Belo-Cincochan said  following the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday.

The company is targeting to go back to pre-COVID-19 numbers this year but officials stressed this is merely an aspirational target.

Wilcon reported a 31.8 percent decline in profit last year to P1.4 billion from P2.1 billion.

Belo-Cincochan said that while net sales and net income fell 7.5 percent to P22.6 billion in 2020, the company staged a comeback in the first quarter this year with earnings surging 84 percent to P604 million.

In 2020, all of the company’s stores in Luzon were closed for two months in view of the Luzon-wide ECQ imposed from mid-March to May 15, 2020.

Belo-Cincochan said the company is on track with its expansion plans to hit a total of 100 stores by 2025.

“We plan to hit 72 stores this year and open seven to eight stores a year in the next few years. Our big target is 100 stores, hopefully we can accelerate that expansion even before 2025,” she said.

At the end 2020, Wilcon had 63 stores.

Asked about the looming competition with the opening of Swedish home store IKEA in the Philippines, Belo-Cincochan said Wilcon and IKEA cater to different markets despite some possible overlaps.