Robinsons Retail profit grows 33% to P2.3 B

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the multi-format retail chain of the Gokongwei family, grew its profits by a third in the first nine months of the year, driven by higher income from operations as well as increased interest income.

Robinsons Retail said its net income jumped 33.3 percent year-on-year to P2.3 billion from P1.8 billion in 2013.

Core net earnings, which excludes interest income, equitized net earnings from its 40 percent stake in Robinsons Bank and forex gains, meanwhile, rose 13.3 percent to P2 billion in the nine-month period from P1.8 billion last year.

“I am very encouraged with the sustained strong samestore sales growth performance of most of our retail formats. We will continue to find ways to offer new shopping experience to our customers,” said Robina Gokongwei-Pe, president and chief operating officer of Robinsons Retail.

“Recently, we launched our first premium supermarket called Robinsons Selections at Bonifacio Global City. Besides its modern look, this new format offers a wide assortment of gourmet and imported products,” Gokongwei-Pe added.

For the nine month period ending September, consolidated net sales swelled 19.1 percent to P56.2 billion from P47.2 billion a year ago.

The company said the higher net sales arose mainly from the sales contribution of the 276 new stores which included the newly acquired businesses and the higher-than-expected same store sales growth (SSSG) of 3.7 percent.

Robinsons Retail as of end-September operated a total of 1,258 stores, up from the previous year’s 982 stores and expanded its total gross floor area 19.9 percent year-on-year.

The company said it has already spent a total of P2.7 billion in capital expenditures for the first nine months of 2014.