Philippine Seven Corp., the local franchise holder of convenience store chain 7-Eleven, said net income in 2014 increased 27.9 percent to P873.3 million from P682.6 million in 2013, on continued store expansion all over the country.
PSC said in a disclosure to the stock exchange retail sales climbed 19.3 percent to P20.6 billion from P17.2 billion a year ago, as it increased its stores by 27.1 percent. It said as of end-2014, it was operating 1,282 stores. It opened 273 stores and closed down 13 stores last year.
PSC president and chief executive Jose Victor Paterno said the company took steps to protect and expand its leadership in light of increased competition. “This involves not only an increased pace of expansion in areas contested by competition, but strategic entry into new territories. The latter may be unprofitable for the first few years due to the high fixed costs of logistics, but we believe we will later be rewarded with strong first mover advantages,” he said.