Metro Retail Stores Group Inc., a leading retail company based in the Visayas, reported an 80.2-percent year-on-year increase in first-quarter net income as it continued to implement efficiency initiatives.
MRSGI said in a disclosure to the stock exchange first-quarter profit reached P60 million, up from P33.3 million in the same period last year.
Revenues, however, dipped 2.3 percent to P8.3 billion from P8.5 billion in the first quarter of 2022 as store sales also went down by 4.6 percent.
“The decrease was due to bulk wholesale transactions in 2022 that had beefed up first-quarter sales last year,” MRSGI said.
It said that excluding these bulk transactions, sales for the first quarter this year posted a double-digit increase of 12 percent.
Supermarket business accounted for 55 percent of revenues, followed by hypermarket at 23 percent and department store at 22 percent.
The company was operating 60 stores as of end-March 2023, including 39 in the Visayas, 11 in Luzon and 10 in the National Capital Region.
MRSGI’s blended gross margin improved by 290 basis points to 21.9 percent in the first quarter from 19 percent a year ago. This was attributable to the higher share to business of general merchandise that generates better margins than food retail.
The company said it continued to implement efficiency initiatives even as operating expenses increased 13.8 percent amid higher rent and utilities expenses and the additional stores that opened in April last year.
“Last year’s results gave the company more confidence to pursue stronger growth and financial performance this 2023,” said MRSGI president and chief operating officer Manuel Alberto.
“MRSGI will continue to seek new opportunities to serve our customers better and to create financial value for our stakeholders. MRSGI registered positive earnings in the first quarter and we plan to build on the momentum for the rest of the year,” he said.
