Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., the retail holding company of the Gokongwei Group, is allocating P4 billion for capital expenditures in 2017, with the bulk to be spent on supermarket expansion.
Robinsons Retail president and chief operating officer Robina Gokongwei-Pe told reporters at the sidelines of the annual stockholders’ meeting the company planned to put up 150 new stores this year.
About 36 percent of the 2017 capex will be spent for supermarkets, 21 percent for department stores, 13 percent for specialty stores, 12 percent for DIY stores, nine percent for convenience stores and nine percent for drug stores.
Gokongwei-Pe said this year’s capex excluded possible merger and acquisitions.
The company spent around P3.3 billion last year, excluding acquisitions of P5.6 billion.
“We’re always on the lookout (for merger and acquisitions,” she said.
The company last year acquired majority shares of The Generics Pharmacy, De Oro Pacific Home Plus and Chic Center Corp.
She said 51 percent of the new stores would be located in Metro Manila, 27 percent in Luzon and the rest in Visayas and Mindanao. Robinsons Retail ended 2016 with 1,578 stores (excluding the 1,912 stores owned by The Generics Pharmacy).
Gokongwei-Pe forecasts same store sales growth of 2 percent to 4 percent in 2017 from a consolidated same store sales performance of 6.7 percent in 2016.
“Last year (same store sales) was exceptionally high because of election spending,” she said.
The company generated sales of P105.9 billion in 2016, up 16 percent from P100 billion in 2015.
Net income in 2016 rose 11.6 percent to P4.85 billion from P4.34 billion in 2015, on aggressive store expansion and acquisitions.