Wilcon Depot Reports P1.2 Billion H1 2025 Net Income, 23% Lower YOY

Wilcon Depot Inc., a home improvement and construction supplies retailer, had its first-half net income fall 23 percent year-on-year to P1.16 billion due to lower sales and increased operating expenditures.

President and CEO, Ms. Lorraine Belo-Cincochan remains positive about Wilcon’s potential turnaround in the second half of the year despite the first half results. Net income totaled P1.163 billion, lower by 23% or P348 million year-on-year. The decrease is mainly driven by the decline in same store sales while operating expenses increased, as new stores were added.

“We are already seeing an upward trend in our sales and our sssg is already in positive territory in June including same store sales growth. It was mainly during the long holidays in April and May that foot traffic was affected, as expected. We’ve also implemented measures on the cost and expenses fronts. We re configured some of our processes and adjusted employed resources such as manpower and equipment, to minimize the growth or even reduce certain expense items. While some of the impact of the measures we’ve implemented will be spread out up to next year, we are already seeing improvements especially in trucking. If sales growth rates continue to trend upward and we are able to control increases in some expense items, we are expecting to reverse the net income decline in the first half”, said Ms. Belo Cincochan.

“We’ve opened three new branches so far for the year and we’ve also re-opened our Baliwag, Bulacan store, which was burned down last year. While we’re still pursuing our store network expansion, we’re also working on improving the profitability of old stores, given the changes in their respective markets. We’re looking at not only refreshing products, layouts and displays but also reducing selling and operating areas, which we expect to lead to lower operating costs”, added Ms. Belo-Cincochan.

1st Half 2025 Results Highlights

Net sales for the first half 2025, amounted to P17.109 billion, slightly lower by 0.4% or P75 million year on-year, driven primarily by the slowdown in foot traffic in May because of the elections, which had a similar effect as the long Easter holidays in April. Comparable sales declined by 4.9% as comparable ticket size continued to trend lower year-on-year in view mainly of mix and pricing.

Three new stores were opened during the first-half and the depot that was burned down in April last year was re-opened in June this year, bringing to 103 the total number of operating stores.

On a per format basis, sales from the depot-format stores amounted to P16.485 billion with a flattish P16 million or 0.1% growth year-on-year. Sales from new depots increased total sales by 4.5% year-on-year, while comparable sales declined by 4.4%. The smaller format, Do-It-Wilcon (DIW), which includes the original Home Essentials stores, recorded net sales of P540 million, a P53 million or 10.8% increase year on-year. Same-store sales for this format grew by 6.6%, while the rest of the increase was contributed by below one-year sales of new DIWs. The remaining 0.5% of total net sales were accounted for by project sales or sales to major institutional accounts, which amounted to P84 million, a P143 million or 62.9% year-on-year decline due mainly to the decrease in the number of projects, by major developers, served.

Gross profit for the first half of 2025 decreased by P226 million or 3.3% year-on-year to total P6.613 billion, traced mainly to a lower blended gross profit margin rate of 38.7% from 39.8% for the first half in 2024. The lower gross profit margin rate was driven mainly by mix for non-exclusive products and pricing for exclusive and in-house brands. Exclusive and in-house brands accounted for 52.3% of total sales.

Operating expenses including lease-related interest expense increased by P209M or 4.1% to amount to P5.286 billion. The increase is mainly due to the hike in depreciation and amortization for new stores added from the second half of 2024 to the first six months of this year, supplies, utilities and salaries partly offset by the decrease in trucking and rent.

Operating other income totaled P194 million, lower by P49.7 million or 20.4% year-on-year, driven mainly by the decrease in supplier support and other fees with the completion of special marketing promotions by suppliers. Non-operating net other income (charges) amounted to P19 million, higher by P16 million or 696.6% due mainly to the one-time charge of the initial loss due to fire recognized last year.

As a result, net income amounted to P1.163 billion, P348 million or 23.0% lower year-on-year.

2nd Quarter 2025 Results Highlights

Net sales for the quarter totaled P8.701 billion, lower by 1.9% or P173 million year-on-year driven mainly by the comparable sales decline of 6.1%, partly offset by the contribution of new stores. The decline is mainly due to the slowdown in sales during long holidays, which fell in April this year versus March last year and also in June in view of the elections.

On a per format basis, net sales from depot-format stores totaled P8.369 billion, accounted for 96.2% of total sales and declined by 1.5% or P127 million year-on-year. The DIW stores contributed 3.2% to total sales, growing by 10.5% or P27 million year-on-year, to amount to P282 million for the quarter. Same store sales, meanwhile, grew by 5.8%. Project sales of P50 million were down 59.3% or P73 million year-on year.

Gross profit of P3.349 billion was down P170 million or 4.8% year-on-year, attributed mainly to lower sales and gross profit margin rate versus the same period last year. Operating expenses including lease-related interest expense totaled P2.622 billion, up P17.5 million or 0.7% year-on-year mainly traced to expansion related expenses, offset by the decline in trucking and rent expenses. Operating other income was P17 million or 15.1% lower year-on-year at P98 million in view of lower supplier support and decreased delivery fees from customers, partly offset by higher collection of rent. Non-operating net other income increased to P5.3 million from last year’s net other charges due mainly to the loss due to fire recognized last year.

Net income totaled P626 million, P144 million or 18.7% lower year-on-year.