LISTED Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC) is allotting P5 billion to P6 billion to open 500 new stores across the country next year, a company official said.
“For 2025, we are aiming to at least open 500 new stores all over the Philippines,” PSC Finance and Accounting Services Division Head Lawrence M. De Leon said during a media briefing in Pasay City on Tuesday.
“The capital expenditure for that is P5 billion to P6 billion,” he added.
PSC is the exclusive licensee of the 7-Eleven convenience store brand in the Philippines.
For this year, Mr. De Leon said the company is on track to open 450 branches, which will bring its store network to 4,100 stores.
“We are very encouraged by the sales performance of the new stores. We are aiming to open 450 stores this year. We’re already more than halfway there as we have already opened 270 stores by the end of the first three quarters. We expect to end the year with 4,100 stores all over the Philippines,” Mr. De Leon said.
“We have a lot of stores in the pipeline, so we are confident that we can achieve those 450 new stores target. This year, most of the stores are in residential clusters since the pandemic changed consumer behavior,” he added.
PSC President and Chief Executive Officer Jose Victor P. Paterno said in the same media briefing that the company is focused on opening new branches outside of Metro Manila.
“It’s basically outside (Metro Manila). The demand is outside. It’s also where the competition is. In Visayas and Mindanao, we’re the only ones with the logistics network,” Mr. Paterno said.
“(Visayas and Mindanao) are a quarter of our total stores. We’re scrambling to build fast enough, looking for contracts, sending people out, and hiring more people,” he added.
Mr. Paterno said PSC tapped an Australian-based artificial intelligence company to identify the products to be sold across 7-Eleven branches.
“People are shopping closer to home since they are already working from home. When they shop close to home, they buy different things than when they’re shopping from work. That’s how we stock the stores, by carrying only what the customers want in that location. We’re able to identify what’s needed,” he said.
On Tuesday, PSC opened its 4,000th 7-Eleven branch in Newport District, Pasay City.
PSC saw a 14% increase in its first-half net income to P1.76 billion from P1.55 billion a year ago. System-wide sales rose 18.6% to P45.9 billion.
On Wednesday, PSC shares fell by 0.41% or 30 centavos to P72 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave