Puregold Sees Profit in 2011 To Reach P1.5B News & Events » Puregold Sees Profit in 2011 To Reach P1.5B

 

Puregold sees profit in 2011 to reach P1.5B

Miguel R. Camus / Reporter   

Business Mirror

 

 

LISTED supermarket chain Puregold Price Club?Inc. expects a sustained sales growth of about 30 percent for the remainder of the year, President Leonardo Dayao said.

 

In an interview with reporters on Monday, Dayao said the retailer is tracking sales growth between 30 percent and 31 percent for the fourth quarter.

 

He added that the company remains on track to reach its full-year profit target of P1.5 billion, almost three times its net income during the previous year on the back of more store openings.

 

Puregold opened its 100th store in Taguig City on Monday. The company’s shares closed 3.06-percent higher to P18.20 each, after rising as much as 7 percent early in the session.

 

The company reported earlier that profit in the third quarter reached P295 million, from P141 million in the same period last year as sales rose almost a third to P9.63 billion.That brings net income in the nine months through September to P1.08 billion, up 185 percent.

 

These new stores account for 24 percent of total net sales for its nine months of operation during the year, the company said.

Puregold is among the five companies that went public this year. The exercise allowed it to raise at least P7.5 billion mainly to fund an aggressive store expansion program and to pay off maturing debts.

Dayao said the company is opening 25 more stores in 2012 and another 25 in 2013 which will bring the total number of stores at 150 nationwide.

 

Puregold was named as one of the top stock picks by the domestic securities arm of UBS AG, an underwriter for the retailer’s IPO.

 

UBS Securities Philippines Inc., which gave Puregold a price target of P18 per share on December 1, said in a report that retailers focused on consumer staples would continue to benefit despite a broader slowdown in consumer spending on expectations the global economy will weaken further in 2012.