For Robinsons Retail, it’s business as usual as a private company

MANILA, Philippines — Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) has officially ended its nearly 13-year run on the Philippine Stock Exchange, and while its executives have things they will miss about life as a listed company, there are also things they will gladly leave behind.

“I will miss seeing our (stock) ticker,” RRHI chairman Robina Gokongwei-Pe told The STAR.

“What I am not going to miss is explaining to 23-year-old analysts who ask me what I’m doing, why I’m doing it and how I am doing it,” the retail tycoon said in jest.

Robina, however, emphasized that they would continue to run RRHI as a listed company.

“Now that we’ve privatized, whether it’s listed or private, we still run it like it’s listed,” she said.

RRHI president and CEO Stanley Co, for his part, said being a private company means less time speaking to investor relations.

“That’s the only difference,” he told The STAR. “But you know what, it’s the same. We’re running it the same way. It’s not because we’re already private that we’ll forget about discipline.”

The company listed its shares at the PSE on Nov. 11, 2013, raising P28.12 billion from the sale of primary and over-allotment shares during its initial public offering.

RRHI shares were delisted from the official registry of the PSE effective Aug. 31.

The company’s public float fell below the PSE’s minimum public ownership requirement   following the successful tender offer by JE Holdings Inc. to voluntarily delist RRHI from the exchange.

But Robina noted that business goes on for RRHI, whose portfolio of brands includes Uncle John’s, Shopwise, The Marketplace, Handyman, True Value, Daiso Japan, TGP, Southstar Drug, Rose Pharmacy, Toys ”R” Us, as well as Robinsons Supermarket, Easymart and Department Store.

“We are still keeping our independent directors so that they keep us on our toes,” she said.

Aside from store expansion, Robina said the company would also continue ensuring that the customer experience remains good.

“Are we still in acquisition mode? If there’s an opportunity. If there is nothing, then none,” she said.

As of the end-March, RRHI has 2,782 stores: 805 food stores, 1,187 drugstores, 51 department stores, 234 DIY stores and 505 specialty stores. It also has over 2,100 franchised TGP stores.