Metro Retail Posts Profit Downturn Despite Food Sales Growth
Cebu-based retailer Metro Retail Stores Group Inc. (PSE: MRSGI) posted a P460.6 million decrease in net income for the first half of 2020, recording a net loss of P84.7 million from a P376 million profit in the same period last year.
The reversal in bottom line was driven mainly by an 8.4% decrease in revenue due to the disruption in operations caused by the COVID-19 outbreak, as well as the changes brought about by new accounting standards on leases. Without the additional charges arising from PFRS-16, the bottom line would have amounted to a profit of P41.9 million. EBITDA for the first half amounted to P1.025 billion.
Despite pandemic-related closures of department stores and reduced customer traffic that resulted to a 46.5% drop in total general merchandise sales, President and Chief Operating Officer Manuel C. Alberto noted the increase in food retail business, which is up by 11.3%, due to buoyed up demand and sustained supermarket operations.
Blended same stores sales contracted by 13.6 % from last year, indicative of the nationwide contraction in consumption expenditures for the second quarter. Metro thus trimmed its operating expenses by 8.9%.
To better serve its customers during the period of limited mobility, Metro served its customers through its e-commerce and mobile commerce services. Launched in April this year, shoppers can order via call, text, or online, and have the items delivered to their homes, or picked up at the store. This service has been launched in selected stores, and will be rolled out to the entire network in the coming months.
Metro counts on a stronger digital presence, solid supermarket sales and a robust liquidity position to enhance its performance in the post-COVID era. For the six-month period ending June 30, 2020, the company still registered respectable sales of P15.23 billion, a decrease of 8.2% compared to P16.6 billion for the same period in the previous year. The company also opened two new supermarket stores in the second half of 2019.
In keeping with the company’s commitment to put the health and safety of its customers, employees, and partners as a priority, Metro has maintained strict safety protocols in its stores, including the regular disinfection of all touch points and high traffic areas in the stores before, during, and after operating hours.
Currently, MRSGI is the only Philippine retailer with the distinction of holding Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) for three of its supermarkets in Alabang Center, Ayala Center,Cebu and Market! Market in Taguig City.
Since the enactment of the community quarantine, MRSGI and Vicsal Foundation have intensified its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) efforts through projects addressing urgent needs of the community, frontliners and hospitals. They have actively led donation drives, feeding programs, and distribution of medical supplies to medical frontliners in major cities in Luzon and Visayas.
“With the company’s efforts to explore opportunities to continuously innovate and remain flexible to the needs of our consumers, we remain optimistic that MRSGI will overcome challenges and gain business momentum,” Alberto said.
