Robinsons Retail profit up 5.8% to P3.49B

Retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI) grew its net profit in the first nine months by 5.8 percent year-on-year to P3.49 billion, buoyed by a double-digit growth in net sales from its expanding store network.

Excluding one-off treasury items and earnings from its 40-percent stake in Robinsons Bank, RRHI’s core retailing net profit increased by 12.9 percent year-on-year to P3.12 billion.

Consolidated net sales for nine months reached P81.18 billion, up by 10 percent year-on-year on steady same-store sales growth and the sales contribution of the new stores.

Excluding the impact of newly opened stores, same store sales growth was 2.8 percent in the first nine-months, driven by the following same store growth in various segments: supermarket segment (2.1 percent), convenience stores (2.6 percent), DIY (Do-It-Yourself hardware (7.2 percent), drugstore (2 percent) and specialty stores (8.4 percent).

Blended gross margins expanded by 80 basis points to 22.4 percent in the first nine months, attributed to an increasing scale across all segments and improvement in category mix.

Operating income rose by 16 percent year-on-year to P4.22 billion.

Cash flow as measured by Ebitda, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, rose by 13.2 percent to P5.74 billion, with Ebitda margin expanding by 20 basis points year-on-year to 7.1 percent.

The supermarket segment continued to account for the largest share of the group’s consolidated net sales, contributing 46 percent to total business in the first nine months. —DORIS DUMLAO-ABADILLA