Lance Gokongwei Steps Down as Robinsons Retail's Chairman

Billionaire Lance Gokongwei is stepping down as chairman and director of Robinsons Retail Holdings, Inc. (RRHI). His older sister, Robina Gokongwei-Pe, will take over his position, effective January 1, 2025.

Gokongwei-Pe is currently the president and CEO of RRHI. By the time she takes over from her brother, she will concurrently serve as chairman of the Remuneration, Nomination, and Succession Planning Committee. Stanley Co, who is chief operating officer of RRHI, will become the new president and CEO.

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According to a stock exchange disclosure, Gokongwei is letting go of his chairmanship to transition to the role of Board Adviser to RRHI. In January,  the JG Summit Holdings and Cebu Air, Inc. boss formally took over as president and CEO Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC), the Gokongwei Group's real estate arm, after Frederick Go left the company to join President Bongbong Marcos’ cabinet. Go was appointed secretary of the new Office of the Special Assistant for Investment and Economic Affairs (OSAPIEA).

The latest management shakeup comes on the heels of key developments in the Gokongwei Group’s businesses. RRHI earlier reported its core net earnings totaled P1.2 billion in the first quarter of 2024, up by 8.5 percent year-on-year. This was on the back of higher sales from its retail empire, including food and drugstore segments.

JG Summit also saw its net income surging threefold to P12.6 billion from January to March, thanks to the stellar performances of its food, real estate, and air transport business units. Among these are Universal Robina Corporation (URC), whose net income rose by 21 percent to P4.4 billion in the first three months of the year; RLC with P4.07 billion; and Cebu Air with P2.2 billion. The merger between the Gokongweis’ banking arm, Robinsons Bank Corporation (RBC), and the Ayalas’ Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) likewise contributed to the growth; though the conglomerate already recorded a 16-percent increase in the earnings of its listed units, regardless.

Esquire Philippines is published by Summit Media, which is among the business units under the Gokongwei Group.