Sia-led firms record solid 9-month results

BUSINESSMAN Edgar “Injap” Sia 2nd’s DoubleDragon Corp. and MerryMart Consumer Corp. (MerryMart) both reported solid earnings in the first nine months of the year.

In a disclosure on Wednesday, DoubleDragon said its consolidated net income inched up by 0.68 percent to P2.47 billion while consolidated revenues grew by 3.01 percent to P6.15 billion.

MerryMart, meanwhile, booked a 19.5-percent rise in net income to P50.76 million following a 27-percent growth in consolidated revenues to P5.79 billion.

“As we enter the busiest season of the year for the retail industry, we maintain our focus on strengthening the backbone of our business operations as we enhance and further automate our supply chain,” said Sia, who chairs both companies, in a statement.

“We look forward to rolling out more distribution centers across the country in the coming months to expand the service areas of MerryMart Wholesale as well as support the continuous opening of our brick-and-mortar retail stores nationwide,” he added.

In a separate statement, Sia said that DoubleDragon would continue to strive to increase its market share, pursuing the target of revenues eventually being “derived from geographically diversified sources.”

“[W]e aim that no single country will contribute over 10 percent of DoubleDragon’s revenue and income,” he continued. “But of course… DoubleDragon… will remain to be a deep-rooted Filipino company at its core forever.”

As of end-September, the real estate company’s total assets amounted to P163.99 billion, while total equity and unutilized debt capacity stood at P82.1 billion and P127.28 billion, respectively.

MerryMart, meanwhile, saw its total assets jump 29.8 percent year-on-year to P10.95 billion in the January to September period.

The retail operator said it was setting its sights on a 2030 goal of expanding to 1,200 branches nationwide, aiming to generate P120 billion in systemwide recurring consumer sales revenues.

On Wednesday, DoubleDragon shares rose 26 centavos, or 3.68 percent, to P7.33 apiece, while MerryMart shares fell by 1 centavo to close at P1.04 each amid a 0.99 percent rise in the benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index.