22-05-2025
7-Eleven PH bullish on VisMin for expansion
Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the exclusive licensor of convenience store 7-Eleven in the country, on Thursday said it is on track to achieve its goal of 500 new stores this year as it is looking to ride on the growth of consumer demand in the Visayas and Mindanao regions.
According to PSC president and chief executive officer Jose Victor Paterno, the Visayas and Mindanao regions continue to outperform, which he said was a post-pandemic phenomenon.
'I think last year, almost half the new stores were in VisMin. More than half this year will be in VisMin because it's growing, because they are the most profitable stores, where there's the most consumer demand,' he said in Makati City.
The company earlier said it plans to open 500 new stores in 2025 and hit 5,000 stores in 2026. It ended 2024 with 4,130 stores—1,974 of which were franchise stores, and the remaining 2,156 company-owned.
'We continue to monitor. Of course we look for trends and say, the new stores we're opening in the different regions are still doing well — yes, then we continue, and when we see signs of a slowdown or something like, okay, we're oversaturating this region, or this region is slowing down for whatever reason,' Paterno said.
'What I can tell you is that it's pretty strong, and thankfully VisMin continues to outperform,' he added.
Asked for his outlook, Paterno said the company is optimistic that it will outperform the second half of 2024. Its third-quarter net income climbed 13.1% to P813.9 million and rose by 1.4% to P1.233 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 maybe the POGOs (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators), but again, we don't know what's going to happen in the second half, what's going to happen with tariffs,' he said.
President Ferdinand 'Bongbong' Marcos Jr., in his State of the Nation Address in July 2024, ordered the ban on all POGOs by the end of 2024, citing the sector's 'grave abuse' and 'disrespect' to the country's system and laws.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump, in what he termed the 'Liberation Day' policy, planned to slap a 17% reciprocal tariff on Philippine goods, which compares with the 34% rate that Manila charges against American goods.
This was set to take effect on April 9, but Trump has since announced a 90-day pause on most countries except China, while countries such as the Philippines could still face a baseline 10% tariff.
Shares in PSC were last traded at P46.00 apiece, up by P0.50 or 1.10% from Wednesday's finish of P45.50 per share. — VBL, GMA Integrated News
