Cosco Capital, Inc., the retail holding firm of businessman Lucio L. Co, reported a 17 percent growth in consolidated net income to P7.27 billion in the first nine months of 2021 from the P6.23 billion earned in the same period of 2020.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said earnings improved despite the decline in consolidated revenues brought about by the continuing impact of the Covid-19 lockdowns experienced by the business segments of the Group.

In the first nine months of 2021, the group's grocery retailing businesses, Puregold Price Club, Inc. and S&R Membership Shopping Club, contributed 63 percent of total core net income.

This was followed by the Liquor Distribution business with 23 percent and the Commercial Real Estate segment with 13 percent. The group's Specialty Retailing segment, Office Warehouse, Inc., accounted for 1 percent of net profit.

The grocery retail segment experienced a decline in its consolidated revenues by 4.9 percent to P115.2 billion mainly driven by a decline in customer traffic in its Puregold supermarkets due to continuing impact of the pandemic.

However, it was able to manage a 13.6 percent growth in net income to P5.73 billion resulting from its strategic initiatives to enhance front margins as well as strategic cost reduction measures.

The Liquor Distribution business, on the other hand, posted a 32.1 percent increase in revenues to P6.6 billion, on the back of a 35 percent growth in volume of cases sold, driven principally by the continued robust performance of Alfonso, the leading imported brandy in the market, which is now back to its pre-pandemic levels.

Net income for the liquor segment jumped by 57.4 percent to P1.1 billion due to the strong sales performance augmented by management’s strategic cost control of its distribution, marketing and promotion expenses.

The Commercial Real Estate segment posted a slight 1.7 percent decline in revenues to P1.24 billion and net income of P581 million during the period as it continued to implement its policy of extending rental waivers or discounts and assistance to affected commercial tenants.

For the Specialty Retailing business segment, Office Warehouse’s revenues decreased by 5.8 percent to P1.18 billion as it continued to deal with the effects of another rounds of hard lockdowns during the period.

However, management initiatives to enhance gross profit margins and control business expenses improved its net income by 18.5 percent to P46 million.