Philippine Seven Corp., the local licensee of 7-Eleven convenience stores in the country, said it incurred a net loss of P419.7 million last year, a reversal of the P1.44 billion it generated in 2019.
Philippine Seven said the pandemic adversely affected sales as lockdown restrictions were imposed under different classifications of community quarantine. Sales of 7-Eleven stores in the office and school clusters were the most affected.
Systemwide sales for the entire year fell 17 percent to P46.46 billion from the previous year’s P56.33 billion.
The company, however, posted an income of P165.6 million in the fourth quarter, down by 78 percent from the previous year’s P748.7 million.
Systemwide sales declined 23 percent to P12.03 billion from the previous year’s P15.7 billion.
“We are not out of the woods, by any stretch. Our financial performance has been abysmal, and when our profit and growth numbers will return depend on not just the pandemic and how the Philippines navigates it’s end, but on how quickly our online and offline pivots take root, if at all,” Jose Victor Paterno, the company’s president and CEO, said.
“In times like these, we believe it is better to look not at numbers and forecasts but instead at one’s position relative to others caught in the same fierce – and unpredictable – storm. In that regard, we take pride and confidence in a proactive pivot executed at speed helped as it was by pre-work before the pandemic, relative to that of our more optimistic peers.”
The company ended 2020 with a nationwide store count of 2,978 stores. There are 2,261 7-Eleven stores in Luzon, some 1,010 of which are in Metro Manila, 432 in Visayas and 285 in Mindanao. The franchised-stores accounted for 55 percent of the total, while the remaining 45 percent are corporate-owned.
Majority of 7-Eleven convenience stores remained open to provide essential products and services to the communities where it is present. Fewer than 7 percent of its store base were temporarily closed by the end of the year, the company said.
Philippine Seven, in partnership with Seven Bank of Japan, has started the installation of its cash-recycling ATMs in more than 150 7-Eleven stores in Metro Manila and nearby provinces. These ATMs are expected to compliment the growing service business of 7-Eleven and also contribute in increasing the level of financial inclusion in the Philippines.