Robinsons Retail nets P996M

Gokongwei-led retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. posted a 26.9 percent year-on-year growth in first quarter net profit to P996 million, driven by higher sales from its expanding store network coupled with improved margins and cost-saving measures.

Excluding interest income on available-for-sale investments, unrealized foreign exchange gains or losses and equity earnings from affiliate, RRHI said core net profit had grown by 21 percent year-on-year to P842 million in the first quarter.

“We are very pleased with the performance of RRHI in the first quarter of 2017. Our consolidated growth across indicators was strong despite coming from a high base due to last year’s pre-election spending. We aim to further our reach through relevant acquisitions alongside strengthening our current formats,” RRHI president Robina Gokongwei-Pe said in a press statement.

Three-month operating income rose by 28.2 percent year-on-year to P1.16 billion on the back of the 100-basis point gain in gross profit to 22.2 percent and same-store sales growth of 3.2 percent for the period.

Same-store sales – which exclude the contribution of new stores to allow better comparison with the previous year’s level – grew by 3.2 percent. This growth was achieved despite coming from a high base brought about by pre-election spending during the same period last year.

Consolidated net sales for the first quarter grew by 13.3 percent to P25.7 billion, primarily driven by the sales contribution of new stores, including the full-quarter consolidation of 2016 acquisitions
which include The Generics Pharmacy, De Oro Pacific Home Plus and Chic Center.

RRHI operated a total of 1,588 stores plus 1,927 The Generics Pharmacy branches. The company expanded its total gross floor area by 9.6 percent year-on-year to end the quarter with 1.06 million square meters of selling space.

Reflecting improved profit margins, RRHI earned 3.9 centavos in net profit for every P1 in net sales compared to 3.4 centavos in the same period last year.

With resilient same store sales growth, profit margin expansion and sustained cost-saving measures that jacked up operating profit, cash flow went up by 22.5 percent year-on-year to P1.7 billion in the first quarter.