Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc.

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us to review Robinson's Retails and Audited Results covering the first quarter of 2020. I am Gina Dipaling, the Investor Relations Officer of RHI. The speakers for this call are Ms. Rubina Gokong-Wepe, the President and CEO of RHI, Eileen Casiban, our CFO, Stanley Call, the Managing Director of the Supermarket Segment, Christine Tuarez, the group general manager of the drugstore segment. Ted Saguno, the general manager of DIY and Pets. Selena Chua, the group general manager of Robinson's Department Store and Toys R Us. Sharesh Ramalingam, the general manager of Ministap. Jovi Santos, the group general manager of the appliance segment. And Edna Beliesa, the general manager of Go Robinson's. This presentation will cover the company's financial performance in first quarter 2022, an update on our store network and e-commerce business, and some recent company developments. A brief question and answer session will follow the formal presentation to be answered by the management team. As a reminder, for the Q&A portion, please use the Q&A function on your Zoom dashboard. We would appreciate if you would limit yourself to a maximum of three questions, including follow-up, so we can accommodate as many participants as possible. You may queue back in for the added questions. If you have any concerns regarding the sound quality of the call, please send your concerns via private chat to Eric or Jake Presologo. With that, I'll turn you over to our President and CEO.

Thank you, Gina. Let me summarize RRI's consolidated results for the first quarter of 2022. Consolidated net sales grew by 10.7% year-on-year to 39.4 billion. Blended same-store sales growth of 4.9%. E-commerce sales doubled both in absolute amount and as a percentage of total sales at 4.1%. 10 BIPs gross margin improvement to 23%. 60 BIPs EBITDA margin expansion to 8.5%. Net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company increased by 24.8% to $1.2 billion. Earnings per share increased by 29.2% to 78 centavos per share. Store portfolio of 2,203 stores and 2,057 PGP franchise branches nationwide. Jobinson's retail store counts to the 2,203 as of end March. Comprising of 291 supermarkets, 910 drugstores, 223 DIY stores, 52 department stores, 445 convenience stores, and 282 specialty stores. We also have 2,057 franchise stores of PGP. Our store network is complementary to our online strategy as our stores serve as fulfillment centers for e-commerce operations. GoRobinson, our very own e-commerce site, currently has 14 banners on the platform. RRHI recorded solid performance for the first three months despite the different alert levels imposed given its diversified formats. In January, the government reinstated Alert Level 3 in response to the rapid transmission of the Omicron variant. South Star and Roast Pharmacy posted SSSG of 37.4% and 42.9% respectively for this month of January, fueled by the strong demand for vitamins and OTC medicine. The government eased the restrictions to Alert Level 2 in February and further to Alert Level 1 in March, which boosted consumer spending given increased mobility and traffic. All our discretionary formats registered double-digit SSSG for the month of March, especially the department store and specialty segments with SSSG above 30%. As a result, consolidated net sales of RHI grew by 10%, 10.7% to 39.4 billion for the quarter. E-commerce sales doubled and accounted for 4.1% of total sales from 2% last year. First quarter, SSSG was at 4.9% with positive contribution from most segments. Drug stores, department stores, and specialty segments delivered double-digit SSSG. Gross margin expanded by 10 dips to 23% from better product mix and higher vendor support. OPEX as a percentage of sales declined by 50 dips supported by the cost efficiencies achieved across most segments, resulting to the 60 dips improvement in EBITDA margin to 8.5%. Net income attributable to parent increased by 24.8% to 1.2 billion pesos due to better operating performance, forex gains, and higher dividend income. Coupled with our share buybacks, EPS was lifted higher by 29.2% to 78 centavos per share. The next speaker will be Stanley Codd, Managing Director of the supermarket segment.

Thank you, Ms. Rubina. The supermarket segment posted net sales growth of 6.3% to 22.4 billion, mainly due to the sales contribution from 23 new stores, Same-store sales growth was flattish as the strong performance in the business in Mindanao region from the relief operation for Typhoon Odette was negated by the lower sales due to ASF and supply chain issues. E-commerce as a percent of sales doubled to 4.2% from 2% the previous year. Gross margin expanded by 30 bps to 20.9% due to the increase in indent penetration, improvement in assortment and price adjustments in Robinson's EC Mark banner. The improvement in gross margins trickled down to EBITDA with margins up by 10 bps to 8.2%. At the end of March, there are 146 Robinson supermarkets 84, Robinson's Easy Mart. 34, The Marketplace. 16, Shopwise. And 11, No Brand Stores for a total of 291 stores. Here's Finn for the drugstore segment.