July 19, 2018

Philippine Seven Corp. (PSC), the exclusive licensor of 7-Eleven in the Philippines, continues to be the market leader in the convenience sector as it recorded a 12.1 percent growth in its net income of over Php1.3 Billion in 2017.

This was disclosed by PSC to the public during its Annual Stockholders’ Meeting last July 19 at Crowne Plaza in Pasig City, where it talked about the company’s financial highlights in the previous year, its continuous expansion, and its recent digital efforts.

2017 sees a continuation of PSC’s growth amid challenges coming from an election year and challenges brought by the new administration such as the implementation of the national smoking ban and the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao.

“Despite the struggles of adjusting to newly enacted policies, we thrived because of continued synergy in our organization. This enabled us in our pursuit of becoming the best retailer of convenience for the emerging markets,” PSC Chairman of the Board and Independent Director Jose T. Pardo said.

Stock prices for PSC (PSE: SEVN) also rose to Php115 per share by year-end, translating into a price earnings ratio of more than 60 times. With this, PSC continued with their commitment of delivering shareholder value by returning Php0.65 per share in cash dividends totalling to Php298 million. The trading volume also exceeded 16 million shares for the entire year.

Opening more doors

The company reached a new milestone with the opening of its 2000th store in March 2017 in LV Locsin Building in Legazpi Village, Makati. PSC’s store count increased by 14.5 percent from 1,995 in 2016 to 2,285 nationwide by the end of 2017. 7-Eleven also opened its doors for the first time in Bohol, Compostela Valley, Agusan del Norte, North Cotabato, and Baler.

“We continue to prioritize expansion as our primary objective,” said Jose Victor Paterno, President and CEO.  “PSC positions itself to maintain clear leadership in a future where rising per capita incomes will result in convenience store penetration, in line with more developed peers in the region.”

2017 also marked the beginning of PSC’s digital journey. CLiQQ Shop, its e-commerce effort, is now available in 1,700 stores in Luzon, with the rest of the country following in the succeeding quarter. CLiQQ PAY, its closed-loop wallet, also soft-launched at the end of last year. To take convenience to the next level, PSC intends to focus on creating a digital ecosystem for its stores in 2018, which builds on earlier loyalty efforts.

“We are not only capitalizing on revenue opportunities presented by the payment and logistics needs of digital players in an emerging market, but are cautiously becoming a digital player ourselves, in the belief that a hitherto unproven model combining online and offline assets will result in a digital business ecosystem, with both low acquisition costs and superior unit economics, perhaps leading to entirely new businesses in the medium term,” said Paterno.

PSC assured stockholders that they will continue to focus on expansion, positioning itself to maintain clear leadership position, and iterate new ways to grow sales collaboratively. 2017 allowed PSC to incubate initiatives to sustainably grow sales, anchored on the fundamentals of improving offers through new product lines, as well as an assortment that better meet customers’ needs. These efforts are expected to contribute more significantly to sales in the next few years.