Robinsons Retail profits drop 25%

Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. reported a 25.2 percent drop in unaudited consolidated attributable net income to P2.93 billion last year from the P3.92 billion earned in 2019 due to the economic effects of the pandemic.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, RRHI said unaudited consolidated net sales amounted to P151.03 billion in 2020, a 7.3 percent reduction from the P162.92 billion posted in the previous year.

RRHI said sales include the two months’ results of Rose Pharmacy, a leading chain in the Visayas, which was acquired in October 2020.

RRHI President Robina Gokongwei-Pe said “2020 was a year of difficulties for many businesses. COVID-19 might be considered a first in our lifetime, yet we remained resilient and focused on providing the best products and services to our customers.”

She added that, “We remain steadfast in our commitment in 2021, confident that we can drive sustainable growth for all of our stakeholders.”

Blended same store sales growth (SSSG) was negative 8.9 percent for full year 2020 mainly due to the performance of the non-essential formats which were closed for eight weeks in 2020.

However, SSSG of the supermarket segment was strong at 7.7 percent. SSSG of the drugstores segment ended flat, as sales of prescription drugs slowed down in the second half of the year with less people visiting hospitals.

SSSG of the department store, do-it-yourself (DIY) and convenience store segments were down in 2020 but showed improvement in the fourth quarter as quarantine restrictions eased.

Robinsons Retail total store count as of end-December reached 2,157, which included 178 supermarkets, 16 hypermarkets, 70 minimarts, 49 department stores, 225 do-it-yourself stores, 472 convenience stores, 829 drugstores and 318 specialty stores. On top of this are 2,025 franchised stores of TGP.

Robinsons Retail’s e-commerce sales continued to rise, registering nearly 3 times increase from the previous year including sales from third party platforms.

“The Company is on a fast-track in increasing its e-commerce presence, capitalizing on the shift in buyer preferences towards online marketplaces, which was made more pronounced by the pandemic,” RRHI said.

Robinsons Retail operates its own e-commerce platforms – gorobinsons.ph, southstardrug.com.ph, and robinsonsappliances.com.ph.

GoRobinsons has onboarded six banners, namely, Robinsons Supermarket, The Marketplace, Shopwise, Toys ‘R’ Us, No Brand and Handyman Do-It-Best. It is set to add other formats in its site this year. Selling via third party platforms, meanwhile, still remains part of the Company’s strategy to increase sales contribution from e-commerce.

Article and Photo originally posted by Manila Bulletin last March 1, 2021 6:00am and written by James A. Loyola.