Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the Gokongwei Group’s flagship retail arm, has extended its ongoing share buyback program and allocated an additional P2 billion to repurchase more of its shares, strengthening efforts to boost shareholder value five years after the initiative began at the height of the pandemic.
The buyback program, launched in March 2020 with an initial P2-billion budget, has undergone several extensions. The most recent renewal, approved in July 2024 with a P1-billion allotment, expanded the total budget to P8 billion. Since inception, Robinsons Retail has repurchased about 158.4 million shares worth P7.83 billion, equivalent to roughly 10 percent of the company’s outstanding shares.
A major boost to the initiative came on May 30, 2025, when Robinsons Retail executed a special block sale approved by the Philippine Stock Exchange. The company reacquired 315.30 million shares, representing 22.2 percent of the retailer, from GCH Investments Pte. Ltd., a subsidiary of DFI Retail Group. The transaction, priced at P50 per share, amounted to a total of P15.77 billion.
The latest extension raises questions on whether the continued buybacks could precede a potential delisting or set the stage for a strategic equity sale, though the company has yet to clarify future plans.
Robinsons Retail said its board has authorized president and CEO Stanley Co and CFO Mylene Kasiban to oversee the implementation of the expanded program. The move, it added, is designed to demonstrate confidence in the company’s long-term prospects while returning capital to shareholders.
The retailer emphasized that the buyback will be carried out through open-market transactions without broad solicitation from shareholders. Robinsons Retail added that the program will not impede ongoing or planned projects, and any significant developments will be promptly disclosed to regulators.
