Robinsons Retail posts 39% earnings growth as sales improve

ROBINSONS RETAIL Holdings, Inc. (RRHI) “sustained its momentum” in the quarter ending September as it recorded a 38.7% increase in its net income attributable to P1.04 billion from P750 million last year, it said in a disclosure to the stock exchange on Thursday.

The company’s net sales amounted to P37.47 billion, up by 8.3% from P34.61 billion a year ago despite the reimposition of enhanced community quarantine in the capital in August.

“This was predominantly driven by the double-digit Same Store Sales Growth (SSSG) of the drugstore segment and positive SSSG of the department store, convenience store and the appliance business,” RRHI said.

E-commerce sales made up for 4.8% of the total in the third quarter, improving by 3.5 times year on year to P1.8 billion.

Gross profit increased by 7.8% to P8.6 billion in the third quarter, while operating income grew 2.2% to P1.5 billion and its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization increased 2.6% to P3.2 billion.

“The continued improvement in our third-quarter performance is indicative of the pivot as the Philippine economy recovers,” RRHI President and Chief Executive Officer Robina Y. Gokongwei-Pe said in a statement on Thursday.

“With more people getting vaccinated, resulting in a drop in COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) cases, quarantine or mobility restrictions are now relaxed. This further supports our view that we can sustain the momentum of the business into the succeeding quarters,” she added.

For the first nine months, RRHI’s net income attributable grew by 13.3% to P2.71 billion from P2.39 billion from the same period last year.

However, it said the pandemic continued to affect its net sales for the period, which inched down by 0.6% to P108.93 billion from last year’s P109.58 billion.

RRHI’s operating income in the first nine months also dropped by 10.4% to P3.82 billion from P4.27 billion.

“While there are still challenges in the overall macro, Robinsons Retail will continue to focus on financial prudence while at the same time, drive agility in bringing forward customer-centered innovation in all of our formats and channels,” Ms. Gokongwei-Pe said.

“We continue to build on our digital strategy and further enhance our online capabilities to serve and fulfill the needs of our customers in the best possible way,” she said.

RRHI shares declined by 1.1% or 70 centavos to finish at P63 apiece on Thursday.

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Article was originally published in Business World and written by Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte.