Listed Gokongwei group's Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. proved its resilience in the first nine months as it reported a core profit of P3.8 billion, up 4 percent.

Net sales during the period were at P138.2 billion, which rose by 8.7 percent year-on-year.

The company was able to generate growth in net sales and core net earnings despite the impact of inflation on consumption and a challenging base last year which benefited from economic reopening and election-related spending.

Core net earnings exclude foreign exchange gains and losses, interest income from bonds, equity in earnings from associates, interest expense related to the Bank of Philippine Islands acquisition financing, BPI cash dividends, and others.

The growth in net sales was supported by blended same store sales growth of five percent and store expansions.

The core businesses supermarkets and drugstores were the main revenue growth drivers in the first nine months.

These two segments accounted for almost 75 percent of Robinsons Retail's revenues for the period.

Meanwhile, a bright spot in the discretionary portfolio was the department store segment, which was able to deliver double-digit topline growth due to back-to-school and continued out-of-home activities.

The company's consolidated gross profit continued to grow faster than revenues, increasing by 9.4 percent year-on-year to P32.9 billion in the first nine months.

This was enabled by improvements in category mix and higher penetration of private label brands. Meanwhile, operating income grew by 3.7 percent year-on-year to P6.1 billion.

Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company fell by 41.4 percent year-on-year to P2.6 billion until September.

The decline in net income to parent was weighed by equitized losses from minority startup investments which continue to ramp up, the derecognition of Robinsons Bank's net income under equitized earnings following the ongoing merger with the Bank of the Philippine Islands, interest expense from the acquisition financing of the BPI shares that were purchased earlier this year, and the absence of cash dividends from BPI in the third quarter of 2023.

Dividends set

BPI has historically paid dividends in the second and fourth quarters of each year. The expected cash dividends from BPI in the fourth quarter should fully cover for the acquisition related financing interest expense for the purchase of the BPI shares.

"Our defensible business model has enabled us to continue growing and remain relevant among Filipino consumers. This is notwithstanding near-term macroeconomic challenges, particularly the impact of inflation on consumer sentiment. These headwinds are temporary, in our view, and we thus remain positive on the long-term potential of the domestic retail industry given the Philippines' attractive demographics. We will continue to invest with a long-term view and in a sustainable manner — core strategies that we firmly believe will translate to greater stakeholder value," Robina Gokongwei-Pe, president and CEO of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc., said.