Robinsons Retail income drops 25% in 2019

MANILA, Philippines — Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. (RRHI), the retail arm of the Gokongwei Group, posted a net income of P3.8 billion last year, down 24.9 percent despite higher sales.

Net sales increased by 22.8 percent to P162.9 billion, driven by same-store sales growth of 3.4 percent as well as the full year consolidation of Rustan Supercenters.

In the fourth quarter alone, net income declined 24.7 percent to P960 million.

“Rustan posted strong performance in the fourth quarter with EBIT before PFRS16 at P399.3 million, wiping out the EBIT losses for the first nine months of 2019. It registered positive net income before tax for the full year 2019 before the PFRS16 adjustments,” RRHI said.

Due to the effect of PFRS16, the net income attributable to parent was down in the fourth quarter and full year 2019 by nearly 25 percent to P960.3 million and P3.8 billion, respectively. Net impact of PFRS16 amounted to P319 million in the fourth quarter and P1 billion in full year 2019,” RRHI said.

PFRS16 is a new accounting standard for leases. It took effect Jan. 1, 2019.

Core net income pre-PFRS16 (or net income excluding interest income on bond investments, forex gains/losses, equity in earnings of an associate and non-recurring expenses) increased 9.5 percent to P1.6 billion in the fourth quarter and 2.1 percent to P5.1 billion for the full year 2019.

RRHI president and chief executive officer Robina Gokongwei-Pe said the company remains optimistic about its prospects especially with technology.

“We remain optimistic because we approach technology as a means for our brands, loyalty programs, and marketing campaigns to become even more customer-centric and engaging to this new digital market,” she said.