Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the local licensee of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the country, is aiming to significantly expand its presence in Visayas and Mindanao this year to tap into the strong consumer demand in both regions.

PSC President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Jose Victor Paterno said the company is on track to open 500 stores in 2025, with more than half opening in Visayas and Mindanao.

“I think last year, almost half the new stores were in VisMin. More than half this year will be in Vismin…because they are the most profitable, where there's the most consumer demand,” Paterno said on the sidelines of a media event hosted by the Makati Business Club (MBC) on Thursday, May 22.

By the end of 2024, PSC is operating a total of 4,130 stores—1,974 of which are franchise stores and the remaining 2,156 are company-owned. For the year alone, 399 new stores were opened.

Focusing on Visayas and Mindanao is part of the company’s strategy to strengthen its expansion strategy outside its robust presence in Metro Manila and Luzon.

Paterno said the two regions have continued to “outperform” since the Covid-19 pandemic, during which hybrid work arrangements gained strong popularity.

“This is a post-pandemic phenomenon. So the pandemic did this thing, which the government has been trying to do forever, is decentralized growth,” he said.

Paterno explained that the recent shift of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms into a hybrid setup is amplifying growth outside Metro Manila and into other regions, further fueling demand in the retail industry.

He, however, noted that the contributions of the BPO industry to retailers such as 7-Eleven could be under threat due to the emergence of artificial intelligence (AI), which may replace thousands of jobs.

“If that goes away, maybe VisMin will slow, but so far, VisMin hasn’t slowed,” said Paterno. “But again, AI, I'm not going to call that direction.”

PSC is taking on a more active role in monitoring these sudden shifts in trends after the company went through a “weak” second half of 2024 following the ban on Philippine offshore gaming operators (POGOs).

Based on its financial report, PSC’s net income in the third quarter of last year rose 13 percent to ₱813.9 million; it later went up one percent to ₱1.23 billion in the fourth quarter.

“I think if current economic conditions persist mathematically, we will surpass the second half, because the second half was so weak because of the [ban on] POGOs,” said Paterno.

President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. ordered a ban on POGOs during his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) due to the industry’s involvement in criminal activities.

Paterno said the company will remain cautiously optimistic by the year-end, noting the potential impact of the reimplementation of the currently suspended reciprocal tariffs by the United States (US) on its trading partners.

The Philippines is set to face a 17-percent tariff on its goods into the US once the 90-day pause expires in July.

“Nobody's going to put stakes in the ground now when we don't know what will happen with the tariffs,” said Paterno.