Filipinos spend more on groceries

Tycoon Lucio Co’s grocery retailer Puregold Price Club Inc. (PGOLD) is the third listed major consumer company after Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and Wilcon Depot to report an uptick in consumer traffic and their growing basket sizes.

- By JAMES A. LOYOLA

PGOLD posted a 6.5-percent improvement in consolidated net income to P2.64 billion in the first quarter of 2025, from the P2.48 billion it earned in the same period last year, due to strong topline growth and stable gross margins.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), the firm said it grew consolidated revenues by 10.8 percent to P52.42 billion for the first quarter of 2025, from P47.32 billion in the same period last year.

For the first quarter of 2025, the enterprise experienced positive same-store sales growth of 5.9 percent from Puregold stores, driven by higher basket size, and four percent from S&R warehouse clubs, driven by higher traffic.