Carrefour Brazil has reported an adjusted profit of R$391 million for the period from July to September 2018 – a year-on-year increase of 67.6%.
Consolidated sales in the same period increased by 8.1%, to R$14.0 billion (R$13.3 billion excluding petrol), with LFL sales up 5.1%, including petrol – the highest gain since Q1 2017.
In the wholesale segment (known locally as atacarejo), the Atacadão banner saw an 11.2% rise in gross revenue, to R$9.5 billion, due to a decision to accelerate store openings to 20 new units per year, compared to 10-12 stores in previous periods.
New Openings
In Q3, Carrefour Brasil opened four new Atacadão cash-and-carry stores (including the conversion of a Carrefour hypermarket), in addition to two delivery stores, in Alagoas and Rondônia.
Seven more stores in the traditional format are due to open until December.
At retail division Carrefour Varejo, gross sales increased by 2.2%, to R$4.5 billion, of which 3% were LFL, reflecting the recovery of hypermarkets and the strong growth of the e-commerce channel (+106%), accounting for 6.9% of total sales (not including petrol) in the quarter.
Carrefour Brazil reduced capex investments by 5.7%, to R$392 million, of which R$266 million was allocated for expansion and the rest for maintenance, store remodelling, and technology.
At the end of September, the retailer had a total of 652 stores in Brazil, of which 185 trade under the Atacadão banner.
Digital Acquisition
Meanwhile, Carrefour Brazil has announced the acquisition of 100% of digital content platform E-Media, which controls the Cyber Cook, Vila Mulher and Mais Equilíbrio sites for an undisclosed amount.
The three sites attract about four million visitors per month, and the acquisition is part of the retailer’s efforts to promote the digital transformation of its food retail operation.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
