Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc.

Good afternoon, everybody. Thank you for joining us to review Robin's news details. I'm Alita Rispoks for the first half of 2024. I am Gina DiPaoli, the company's investor relations officer. The speakers for this call are the following. Our president and CEO, Ms. Rubina Lokmoy. Good morning, everyone. Our CFO, Ms. Maylene Casivan. The Managing Director of Robinsons Supermarket and Marketplace and Shopwise, Ms. Christine Juarez. The Group General Manager of the Drug Store Segment, Ms. Joanne Arceo. The Group General Manager of Robinsons Department Store and Toys, Ms. Elena Chua. The Group General Manager of DIY and Pets, Ted Sobono. The Group General Manager of Appliances Segment, Mr. Jody Santos. and our Conference Secretary, Attorney Bill Rivera. That is the agenda for this afternoon. We will provide an overview of our financial performance and highlights, and we will also share key updates across the organization. As a reminder for the Q&A session after the presentation, please use the Q&A function on your Zoom dashboard to type in your questions. We would appreciate if you can limit initially to a maximum of three questions, including follow-ups, so we can accommodate as many participants as possible. We'll bring you back into the Q&A box for additional questions. You may also use the respond function if you would like to ask questions live. With that, I will turn you over to Stanley, our CEO, to discuss the financial guidance.

Good afternoon. Here are the highlights of our results for the second quarter of 2024. Consolidated net sales grew by 3.1% to 47.8 billion. Standard same-store sales growth of 0.5%. Cross-profit increased by 5.2% to 11.6 billion. EBIT of 2.2 billion, up by 7.3%. And coordinate earnings increased by 15.3% to 1.5 billion. Net income to parent of 1.7 billion. 36.2% higher versus last year. Meanwhile, here are the financial results for the first six months. Consolidated net sales of 3% to 93.7 billion. Blended same-store sales growth settled at 0.7%. Cross-profit rose by 4.4% to 22.5 billion. EBIT amounted to 4.1 billion, higher by 5.5%. Cornet earnings grew by 12.1% to 2.6 billion, and net income to parent came in at 6.8 billion, 3x times higher versus last year, mainly due to the one-time gain from the BPI-Observant merger, which was booked in the first quarter. Blended SSSG came in flat due to stick inflation, stiff competition, and the heat wave during the summer months, which affected football and street-level stores. In June, however, we saw a pickup in blended same-store sales growth in line with moderating inflation. In addition, spending in our stores in June was boosted by the payday weekend for the month. First half, blended SSSG registered at 0.7%, and revenue of performers in the second quarter were food, drug stores, and the department stores. Gross profit rose by 5.2% in QQ to 11.6 billion due to improvements in category mix and vendor support. This pulled up first half tally to 22.5 billion up by 4.4%. EBIT rose by 7.3% to 2.2 billion in QQ driven by higher gross profit. This brought YDD EBIT to 4.1 billion up 5.5%. Net income to parent rose by 36.2% to 1.7 billion in 2Q due to higher dividend income from BPI and lower losses from associates following the reclassification of go time from an investment in associates last year to an equity instrument financial assets this year. YTD June net income to parent came in at 6.8 million, 3.8. 3.8x higher versus last year, driven by the one-time gain from the BPI measure. Core earnings came in at 1.5 billion in Tokyo, up by 15.3%. Year-to-date June core earnings rose by 12.1% to 2.6 billion. In terms of segment contribution, the staple businesses, namely food and drug stores, accounted for 79% of total sales and 81% of total EBITDA, respectively, in the first half. Meanwhile, our discretionary formats, namely the department stores, DIY stores, specialty stores, comprised 21% of sales and 19% of EBITDA, respectively. Our store count across the Philippines stood at 2,401 as of June 2014, comprising of 753 food stores, 1,082 drug stores, 49 department stores, 224 DIY stores, and 291 specialty stores. We also have 2,148 franchise stores of TGP. For year-to-date June 2024, we opened eight new stores. We usually release our store openings in the second half of the year, with bulk coming from food segment and drugstores. Passing you over to Tim for the food segment.

Thanks, San. The food segment reported net sales of 28.9 billion in the second quarter, a 4% increase from last year, bringing net sales from first half by 3.7% to 57 billion. Same-store sales growth came in at 0.9% in second quarter and 1.8% in the first half. Gross margin expanded by 30 bits in second quarter and 30 bits in first half due to scaled, higher vendor support and sustained demand for Uncle John's high-margin ready-to-eat categories. EBITDA grew by 3.5% to 2.5 billion in second quarter and by 2.5% to 4.8 billion in the first half. The expansion in gross margins was mitigated by higher OPEX from new stores. I turn you over to Joanne for the drugstore segment.