Cosco Capital profit up 5%

MANILA, Philippines — Cosco Capital Inc., the listed holding firm of retail tycoon Lucio Co, posted net earnings of P10.5 billion last year, up five percent from 2020 and 13 percent better than the pre-pandemic net income of P9.3 billion.

However, the company’s consolidated revenues reached P174.4 billion last year, down from P177.3 billion in 2020, with the grocery segment experiencing a decline in revenue due to slower customer traffic because of the still lingering impact of the pandemic.

Nevertheless, Cosco navigated the second year of the pandemic by managing expenses and through the income tax savings generated from the implementation of the CREATE Law.

Last year, the group’s grocery retailing businesses, Puregold Price Club, Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, contributed 63 percent of total core net income.

The grocery retail segment experienced a decline in its consolidated revenues by 2.7 percent to P164.1 billion even as Puregold still managed a 1.4 percent growth in net income to P8.18 billion due to improving gross profit margins, as well as strategic cost reduction measures.

The liquor distribution contributed 23 percent, while commercial real estate accounted for 13 percent. The group’s specialty retailing segment, Office Warehouse Inc., accounted for one percent.

The Keepers Holdings Inc. recorded a consolidated revenue of P11.03 billion, a 35.1 percent growth versus the previous year on the back of a 31.9 percent rise in volume of cases sold, totaling more than 4.46 million cases sold in 2021.

Net income for the liquor segment jumped by 34.4 percent to an all-time high of P1.58 billion due to strong sales performance.

On the other hand, the commercial real estate segment posted flat revenues amounting to P1.69 billion as it continued to extend rental reliefs against nine months starting in the second quarter in 2020.

However, the segment managed to improve its net income by 30 percent to P915 million due to a combination of strategic cost efficiencies.

For the specialty retailing business segment, Office Warehouse revenues decreased by 6.9 percent to P1.56 billion as it continued to deal with the effects of hard lockdowns during the year.

As a result, net income also slightly declined to P50 million from P56 million in 2020.