Robinsons Retail 2021 profit hit P4.48B on robust holiday spending

Gokongwei-led Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) delivered P4.48 billion in net profit last year, rising by 39.2 percent from the previous year and beating market expectations, as holiday spending doubled its earnings in the fourth quarter.

RRHI’s net profit attributable to equity holders of parent in the fourth quarter surged to P1.8 billion from P825 million in the same period last year.

RRHI’s earnings exceeded by 21.6 percent the P3.68-billion profit level that Bloomberg market consensus had expected the company to deliver for 2021. The 2021 level also hit the P4.47-billion net profit that the market expects RRHI to deliver for the whole of 2022.

RRHI’s fourth quarter net sales grew by 7 percent to P44.4 billion, benefiting from holiday spending sprees alongside the easing of mobility restrictions in the National Capital Region (NCR).

Lower alert level

Beginning November last year, children and senior citizens were allowed to go out of their homes after the alert level in NCR was lowered.

Excluding the impact of changes in store network, fourth-quarter same store sales grew by 2.3 percent, driven by the strong performances of the drug store, department store, convenience store and specialty store segments.

E-commerce sales also grew by three times the level seen in the fourth quarter of 2020 and accounted for 3.9 percent of total sales.

“The positive performance in the last quarter of 2021 shows how we came together as a company with unwavering dedication, amid the continued challenges of COVID-19 throughout the year,” said Robina Gokongwei Pe, president & CEO of RRHI.

“We entered 2022 driven by our constant goal to remain focused on our customers’ needs. We look forward to reinvigorated business activity as alert levels fall due to better responses to the pandemic, while the nation forges ahead with a clearer path toward a more open economy,” she added.

For the full year, RRHI’s net sales inched up by 1.5 percent to P153.33 billion. Cash flow as measured by earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization improved by 2.4 percent to P13.1 billion.