Robinsons Retail profit down 14% in first 3 quarters

Listed Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. reported on Thursday that its attributable net income dropped to P2.4 billion in the first nine months of the year as the pandemic continued to hamper its operations.

In a filing, the Gokongwei-led retail giant said the amount was a 13.9-percent decline from P2.8 billion last year.

For the third quarter alone, attributable net profit plunged by 29.5 percent to P750 million from P1.06 billion year-on-year.

Robinsons Retail said its overall results in the third quarter showed an upward trend, compared with that in the second, signaling that the retail climate had bottomed out in the latter period, when stricter quarantine measures were in place.

Consolidated net sales slipped by by 5.7 percent to P109.6 billion in January to September from P116.2 billion year-on-year.

“Discretionary formats were affected by [the] temporary reversion to modified enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila and nearby provinces from August 4 to 18 [and] limited transportation and consumer mobility also affected foot traffic in malls,” Robinsons Retail explained.

Blended same-store sales growth (SSSG) reached -6.4 percent in the first nine months and -11.7 percent in the third quarter.

Supermarket SSSG posted 11.5 percent in January to September and 2.1 percent in the third quarter.

Drugstores recorded SSSG of 3.5 percent in the first three quarters, but posted -3 percent in July to September amid the drop in sales of prescription flu and anti-bacterial medicines.

“Our third-quarter financials give us some optimism that the worst may have passed for RRHI and the retail sector. Compared to the second quarter, we saw significant improvements in our results across the majority of our formats,” Robinsons Retail President and Chief Executive Officer Robina Gokongwei Pe said in the filing.

“We are hopeful that the uplift continues for the rest of the year. Covid-19’s impact on people, businesses and the overall economy is still very much felt and apparent, and our year-on-year numbers remain down. Yet we are seeing signs of recovery amidst an age of social distancing and safety precautions, and all of us are adapting to this new dynamic in retail,” she added.

Robinsons Retail currently has 1,853 stores nationwide, excluding franchised stores of The Generics Pharmacy.

Robinsons Retail shares lost 60 centavos or 0.92 percent to finish at P64.40 apiece on Thursday.

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Article and Photo originally posted by Manila Times last October 30, 2020 and written by Faye Almazan.