Upson International profit climbs on store expansion

LISTED information technology and electronics retailer Upson International Corp. posted a 3.7% increase in its net income to P481.5 million last year from P464.2 million in 2023, led by higher revenue and store expansion efforts.

“The increase was attributable to the combined effects of pre-opening costs of the additional 13 stores opened in 2024, and the higher gross margin due to revenue mix and higher product margin rates from increased promotion, including product bundling and price discounts,” Upson said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated net revenue rose by 14.2% to P11.44 billion from P10.01 billion in 2023 on the back of new store openings.

Upson opened 13 stores in 2024, bringing its total store network to 245. Of the total, 213 are mall-based stores while 32 are standalone branches.

Revenue growth also came from the contribution of new retail subsidiary iStudio Technologies Philippines Corp., which generated P1.5 million last year.

Cost of sales increased by 14.2% to P9.06 billion while operating expenses rose by 14.8% to P1.92 billion.

Upson operates store brands such as Octagon, Microvalley, Gadget King, and Octagon Mobile.

The company offers more than 13,000 stock keeping units as of end-2024 spanning categories such as personal computers, printing, communication, storage, networking, peripherals, components, accessories, and software.

Upson shares were unchanged at 76 centavos per share on Monday. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave