Robinsons Retail sets P4-B capex for ’17

Gokongwei-led retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) has set aside P4 billion for capital spending this year as it continues the rollout of more stores nationwide.

RRHI expects to open 150 new stores this year and is likewise seeking more opportunities to fast-track growth through more merger and acquisition deals, company president Robina Gokongwei-Pe reported to stockholders in an annual meeting yesterday.

As of the first quarter this year, RRHI had 1,588 stores nationwide plus 1,927 branches of drugstore chain The Generics Pharmacy. The net addition of 150 stores this year also considers the impact of store closures.

While the multiformat retailer has grown through acquisitions over the years, it expects to maintain same-store sales growth of 2-4 percent this year. Last year, same store sales growth—which excludes the impact of new stores or those opened in less than 12 months— was extraordinarily high at 6.7 percent due to strong consumer spending during the presidential elections.

Despite a cutthroat environment in retailing, RRHI expects its gross profit margin to expand by 10 to 20 basis points this year, Gokongwei-Pe said. She said RRHI was able to unlock better margins because of the group’s scale.

Of the P4 billion capital spending budget for this year, the bulk of 36 percent is earmarked for the setting up of new supermarkets while 21 percent is for the opening of new department stores. The rest of the capital spending budget will be for the opening of new speciality stores (13 percent), do-it-yourself stores (12 percent); convenience stores (9 percent) and drugstores (9 percent).—DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA