Spanish retail group DIA has reported sales of €1.78 billion in the first quarter of its financial year, up 10% from the same period in 2022.
Like-for-like sales in the period increased by 7%.
The positive performance, especially in Spain and Portugal, meant that the retailer posted a fourth consecutive positive quarter in net sales.
The number of customer visits increased by 7.5%, underlining the positive trend of the previous quarters, with a 0.5% reduction in the size of the average shopping basket.
In Spain, net sales grew 11.7% year-on-year, to €1.12 billion, with like-for-like sales up 12.4%, excluding the stores sold to Alcampo and the Clarel deal.
This allowed DIA to gain market share in the country, where it currently occupies fourth place, after Mercadona, Carrefour and Lidl.
In Portugal, like-for-like sales grew by 8.3% and net sales by 3.2%, to €140.5 million, offsetting the 7% reduction in store network and a decline in volume.
In Argentina, net sales rose 19% to €340.7 million, driven by like-for-like growth of 0.7%, and showing a recovery in consumption that had slowed in the fourth-quarter of 2022.
In contrast, in Brazil, net sales contracted by 7.5%, to €182.7 million, affected by the change in the assortment and a 2% reduction in the store network, among others.
DIA Network
The group ended the first quarter with 5,587 stores (-2.9% year-on-year), of which 2,654 are already operating under the new model.
In the period, 252 stores have been refurbished, and 26 stores have been opened.
By country, Spain has 1,861 stores operating under the new model; Argentina has 627 and Portugal 113.
DIA said that, for now, it has disposed 82 of the 224 stores it sold to Alcampo, while the sale of Clarel is awaiting approval from the regulator and should be closed during 2023.
As of the end of March, the company had already renewed more than 80% of its private label products, and introduced 93 new references. Private label products increased their share of the shopping basket to 53%.
© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest Retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
