Wilcon Depot, Inc., the Philippines’ leading home improvement and finishing construction supplies retailer, reported its financial results for the first half of 2025, with President and CEO Ms. Lorraine Belo-Cincochan expressing optimism for a significant turnaround in the latter half of the year.
The company recorded a net income of P1.163 billion for the first six months of 2025, a 23% or P348 million decrease year-on-year. This decline was primarily driven by a decrease in same-store sales and an increase in operating expenses associated with the opening of new stores. Net sales for the period amounted to P17.109 billion, a slight decrease of 0.4% or P75 million compared to the previous year. Comparable sales saw a 4.9% decline, influenced by reduced foot traffic during the long holidays in April and the national elections in May.
Despite the first-half challenges, Ms. Belo-Cincochan highlighted positive momentum. “We are already seeing an upward trend in our sales, and June was already in positive territory, including same-store sales growth,” she stated. “The slowdown was mainly during the long holidays in April and May, which affected foot traffic as expected. We’ve also implemented measures on the cost and expenses fronts, reconfiguring some processes and adjusting resources like manpower and equipment to minimize growth or even reduce certain expense items.”
Ms. Belo-Cincochan further added, “While some of the impact of these measures 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 can control increases in some expense items, we are expecting to reverse the net income decline in the first half.”
Strategic Expansion and Profitability Enhancement
Wilcon Depot continued its strategic expansion during the first half of 2025, opening three new branches and successfully reopening its Baliwag, Bulacan store that was damaged by fire last year. These additions bring the total number of operating stores to 103.
Beyond expansion, the company is actively focusing on enhancing the profitability of its existing stores. “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,” Ms. Belo-Cincochan explained. “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.”
On a format basis, sales from depot-format stores reached P16.485 billion, showing a marginal 0.1% growth year-on-year, with new depots contributing 4.5% to total sales. The smaller Do-It-Wilcon (DIW) format, including Home Essentials stores, recorded net sales of P540 million, an impressive 10.8% increase year-on-year, with same-store sales growing by 6.6%. Project sales, however, declined by 62.9% to P84 million due to a decrease in projects served for major developers.
Gross profit for the first half decreased by P226 million or 3.3% to P6.613 billion, primarily due to a lower blended gross profit margin rate of 38.7% (from 39.8% in H1 2024), influenced by the mix of non-exclusive products and pricing strategies for exclusive and in-house brands, which accounted for 52.3% of total sales. Operating expenses, including lease-related interest expense, increased by 4.1% to P5.286 billion, mainly due to higher depreciation and amortization from new stores, supplies, utilities, and salaries, partially offset by reduced trucking and rent costs.
