MANILA - Philippine Seven Corporation (PSC), the local licensee of 7-Eleven Convenience Stores, is allocating P3.5 billion in capital expenditures this year to support its accelerated store expansion strategy.

The firm said the bulk of the funds will be used for new store openings, store renovations, and equipment acquisition.

At the end of 2015, 7-Eleven stores totaled 1,602, up 25 percent from 1,282 stores in end-2014. A total of 1,391 7-Eleven stores are in Luzon, 178 in Visayas, and 33 in Mindanao.

PSC finally entered Mindanao in 2015, opening stores in Davao City and Cagayan de Oro during the second quarter.

“The rest of the country is relatively uncontested in comparison. We are virtually the only competitor with the critical mass to build out proper supply chains in areas logistically unreachable from GMA [Greater Manila Area]. Such supply chains come at a medium term cost in terms of underutilized warehouses. We expanded our existing distribution centers and opened new warehouses in 2015," said PSC president Jose Victor Paterno.

The company's net income grew to P1.01 billion in 2015, up 15.4 percent from the P873.3 million in 2014.

"The improved financial performance was largely driven by the increase in sales of all corporate and franchise-operated stores, which grew by 25.3 percent to P25.8 billion from P20.6 billion in 2014," PSC said.

PSC, which now operates the largest convenience store network in the country, acquired the license to operate 7-Eleven stores in the Philippines from Southland Corporation (now Seven Eleven Inc.) of Dallas, Texas in December 1982.