Robinsons Retail to put up 200 stores in ’16

ROBINSONS Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) has earmarked P5 billion to expand its store network organically this year while remaining on the lookout for more merger and acquisition (M&A) opportunities.

The capital spending budget for this year, which is higher than last year’s actual expenditure of P4.2 billion, will be used to add 200 new stores this year.

RRHI president Robina Gokongwei-Pe said in a briefing after the stockholders meeting on Thursday that most of the new store openings would be for South Star drugstore.
About 20 supermarkets and 20 mini-stop convenience stores are also scheduled to open.
RRHI expects a double-digit growth in revenue this year and an increase in average margins by 10 to 20 basis points.

Gokongwei-Pe said: “2016 is expected to be a good year. With the national elections in May coupled with the rising purchasing power of consumers fueled by low fuel prices, we expect (SSSG) same store sales growth to stay healthy for the whole of 2016.”

The company’s SSSG was “exceptionally good” at about 9 percent in the first quarter, mainly because of the elections, she said. For the full year, however, the growth rate is expected to average 3-5 percent.

“We, however, foresee competition to remain intense as more retailers are expanding aggressively in areas outside Metro Manila to cash in on the still low modern retail penetration in these areas,” she said.

RRHI expects to fast-track growth if there would be more M&A opportunities. “We will continue to participate in the ongoing consolidation of the industry,” she said.

The group’s most recent acquisition is a majority stake in the country’s largest generics drugstore chain The Generics Pharmacy (TGP), which has 1,800 stores, from the Liuson family. Doris Dumlao-Abadilla