Robinsons Retail posts 22% profit hike last year

MANILA, Philippines – Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) the retail arm of the Gokongwei family, posted a 21.9 percent increase in net income to P4.34 billion last year, driven by  higher income from operations.

In the fourth quarter alone, RRHI’s consolidated net income went up 12.7 percent to P1.37 billion.

Full-year sales expanded by 13 percent to P90.88 billion owing to the sales contribution of 179 new stores and the strong same store sales growth (SSSG) of 4.1 percent, which was higher than the two to three percent target for the year.

The growth was attributed to the improved performance of all retail formats: supermarkets (which rose 3.3 percent), department stores (5.5 percent), hardware (five percent), convenience stores (5.4 percent), drugstores  (3.3 percent) and specialty stores (4.9 percent).

 At the end of last year, Robinsons Retail operated a total of 1,506 stores, higher by 179 stores, and expanded its total gross floor areas by 9.7 percent year on year.

Core net earnings, which exclude interest income on bond investments, equitized net earnings from its 40 percent stake in Robinsons Bank and forex gains or losses, increased by 5.8 percent to P3.63 billion.

 Robina Gokongwei-Pe, RRHI president and chief operating officer, said all retail formats performed well in 2015, despite intense competition.

 “We have also gotten into a good start this 2016 with solid SSSG for the first two months of the year as we benefitted from increased consumer spending from a still robust domestic economy.

We will continue with our footprint expansion, with focus on areas outside Metro Manila. Looking for potential mergers and acquisitions continues to be part of our strategy in growing the business,” Pe said.

Robinson’s Retail’s balance sheet remained solid with cash, cash equivalents and liquid marketable securities of P29.28 billion as of end-December 2015.                            –