LISTED firm SSI Group Inc., a leading specialty retailer in the Philippines, sees continued strong revenues with the weaker peso and the rising number of visitor arrivals.
In an interview with the BusinessMirror, SSI Group President Anthony T. Huang said, “From a sales perspective, sales have been very buoyant, and I think consumption is still very strong. Local consumption is still continuing to grow. If you look at what’s happening, people are still shopping locally, considering the stronger dollar at this time, rather than shopping overseas, which is great for us. So far, so good.”
At the same time, however, he admitted that prices of the foreign-branded products SSI sells in its stores, will likely be raised, precisely because of the weak peso. “Of course, with the strengthening dollar [and] strengthening euro, pricing needs to change. We’ve been managing those changes as prudently as we can.”
While he declined to reveal the company’s sales projections this year, he said, “Thus far, sales growth has been very, very healthy. Last year was very, very healthy. We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it continues to grow.”
Huang noted another factor that has been contributing to the company’s strong sales this year: the rising number of tourists in the country. “I think the other contributor to sales growth here is, likewise, increasing tourism into our country. Again, if you look at the stronger dollar versus the weaker peso, obviously that bodes well for local tourism.”
The Philippines received 2.05 million foreign tourists in the first quarter of 2018, up 14.8 percent from the same period in 2017. The Philippine Statistics Authority said inbound tourism expenditure grew 44 percent to P448.6 billion in 2017, accounting for 9.2 percent of the country’s total exports. Inbound tourism expenditures ranked third among the largest export items last year, after semiconductors (22 percent) and miscellaneous services (15.7 percent). Among the top activities of foreign tourists in the Philippines aside from going to tourist spots, is shopping.
The Philippines is targetting 7.4 million foreign visitor arrivals this year, and inbound tourism receipts of P473 billion.
Now celebrating its 30th year, the Tantoco-Huang family-led SSI Group has an extensive portfolio of established international brands that caters to all aspects of a quality lifestyle, and sold in 720 stores in 80 malls nationwide. As of 2017, the company had about 110 brands under its wing, catering to all income groups. It represents luxury brands, such as Hermes, Gucci and Salvatore Ferragamo; as well as mid-priced clothing and footwear (Zara, Bershka, Stradivarius, Lacoste, GAP, Payless, Muji); travel brands like Samsonite; and home furnishings and accessories (Pottery Barn).
The company has also expanded its retail format offerings with its entry into e-commerce, unique restaurant concepts such as TWG and SaladStop!, and mall developments such as Central Square in Bonifacio Global City, Taguig.
The SSI Group debuted its shares on the Philippine Stock Exchange on November 7, 2014, with an initial public offering price of P7.50 per share, before it closed at P7.99 that day. The company managed to raise P7.45 billion from that exercise. On Monday SSI’s share price closed at P2.07, on a turnover of 3.32 million shares. Company revenues reached P4.6 billion in the first quarter of 2018, while its net income was about P133 billion. Profit margin was 2.9 percent for the period.
“From a share-price perspective, definitely I wish it would perform better. Unfortunately, it hasn’t been the case. But we continue to do what we continue to do for the business. We continue to grow the business, continue to perform, to focus on doing what’s best for the business and what’s best for our customers,” Huang said.