By Richmond
S. Mercurio (The Philippine Star) | Updated August 17, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA,
Philippines - Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the retail arm of the Gokongwei
family, plans to spend another P6 billion next year to ramp up expansion of its
network across all store formats and fully utilize the increasing spending
power of Filipino consumers.
In an
interview, Robinsons Retail president Robina Gokongwei-Pe told The STAR the
company is earmarking for 2016 the same amount it did this year to put up
between 250 to 300 stores.
Next year’s
store expansion is likely the biggest in the company’s history as it is
expected to top 2014’s record of 263 new stores opened in a single year.
Robinsons
Retail offers a diverse array of retail offering which includes supermarkets,
department stores, convenience stores, drug stores, and specialty stores.
For next
year’s expansion, bulk will be composed of convenience store chain Ministop.
Gokongwei-Pe
said the company remains undeterred despite the growing number of competition
in the country’s convenience store segment as it eyes 100 new stores next year.
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Ministop at
present has nearly 500 operational stores in the Philippines.
“It has
become quite competitive so we’re focusing on our strength which is
ready-to-eat.
There’s
still room to grow for our convenience store business,” Gokongwei-Pe said.
Gokongwei-Pe
said there are still a plenty of areas in the country where Ministop is not yet
present but she noted the company intends to grow over the near term on its
existing markets.
“We have
presence in Cebu, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro, and Dumaguete. We want to add stores
to those territories first,” she said.
Aside from
Ministop, Robinsons Retail is also aggressively expanding British coffee brand
Costa Coffee in the country with plans of opening 70 stores over the next five
years.
As of the
first quarter of the year, Robinsons Retail had a total of 1,356 stores
composed of 113 supermarkets, 42 department stores, 159 DIY stores, 473
convenience stores, 330 drug stores, and 239 specialty stores.
By yearend,
the firm is targeting a total 1,600 stores across all formats.
Robinsons
Retail grew its net income to P1.86 billion in the first half of the year, up
36.2 percent from P1.37 billion in the same period last year.
Growth came
from a double-digit growth in sales on the back of its store expansion.
For the
first six months of the year, consolidated net sales grew 11.8 percent to
P41.35 billion.
The retailer
attributed this to the sales contribution of 219 new stores as well as newly
acquired businesses A.M. Builders’ Depot and Chavez Pharmacy.
“From July 2014
to June 2015, Robinsons Retail added a total of 219 stores to end the quarter
with 1,399 stores in total, which translates to 12.9 percent year-on-year
increase in gross floor area to approximately 901,000 square meters,” Robinsons
Retail said.
Gokongwei-Pe
said same-stores sales have been holding up despite competition.
She also
said the new formats the company launched have been performing well and as
such, the company is likely to open more stores under the same formats.
“I am seeing
a lot of promise from the new formats that we recently launched such as Costa
Coffee, Robinsons Selections, and True Home by True Value. With this, we are
emboldened to open more stores from these formats. Sales from our consumer
electronics and appliance online business through a market place has been
promising, which confirms that there is a growing market for this business. The
industry’s dynamism will always keep us on our toes,” said Gokongwei-Pe. – With Iris Gonzales
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