Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. reported income 54 percent down in the first quarter of the year to P537 million from last year’s P1.18 billion.
This was traced to higher interest expense resulting from the acquisition financing of Bank of the Philippine Islands shares earlier this year, foreign exchange losses and lower earnings from associates.
The higher interest expense for the purchase of BPI shares should be offset by expected cash dividends from BPI when declared, the company said.
“Our dynamic growth strategies and multi-format business model has enabled us to capture the resilience in consumer spending. As such, we will continue to open stores in underserved areas, improve efficiency within our stores through assortment changes and streamlining expenses, and capitalize on our growing digital presence to reach more shoppers,” Robina Gokongwei Pe, president and CEO, said.
Core net income, which strips out foreign exchange gains or losses, interest income from bonds, equity in earnings from associates, interest expense related to the BPI shares, among others surged 20 percent to P1.09 billion from P907 million.
Net sales for the period totaled P44.6 billion or 13 percent higher than last year’s P39.42 billion.
Blended same store sales grew 9.2 percent, augmented by fresh revenue contributions from new stores.
The supermarket, drugstore, department store and convenience store segments all delivered double-digit revenue growth for the period, the company said.
“The reopening theme continues to work in the company’s favor while consumer demand, especially from the middle-class target market, has been largely resilient,” the company said.
The business also continued to see gross profit and operating income accelerate relative to the topline, growing by 15.9 percent to P10.5 billion and 14.8 percent to P1.8 billion, respectively, in the first quarter.
This was aided by improvements in category mix, economies of scale, better operating leverage and various cost saving initiatives, the company said.
