Sonae MC, Portuguese operator Sonae’s food retail division, posted a like-for-like sales increase of 0.1% in the third quarter of the year, with like-for-likes over the 9M period up 0.5%.
Overall turnover increased 4.8% in the 9M period, to €2.81 billion, which was boosted by the opening of 10 Continente Bom Dia stores in the period.
The group said that the third quarter was ‘particularly positive’ for Sonae MC, given the low inflation in the marketplace, and recent deflation on fruits and vegetables.
‘This evolution proves the success of Sonae MC value proposition improvement, which continued to work towards maintaining price leadership in the market and improving price perception’, the company said. ‘In fact, once again, Sonae MC reached the top of the pricing index in the latest study of the Portuguese consumer’s association.’
Underlying EBITDA at Sonae MC stood at 5.2% in the 9M period, which is not far off the 6.3% the business posted in the same period last year.
Group Wide
Across the entire Sonae group, consolidated turnover increases 6.9% to €4.1 billion, driven by growth across all businesses, while the business posted a 9.6% increase in underlying EBITDA to €221 million.
“During this 3rd quarter, in which the business portfolio is now comparable to the same period of last year, we continued to grow at a healthy trend (4.8%) in aggregated terms, thanks to the positive contribution from all our main activities, particularly from our various retail businesses, which grew by 5.1%,” said Ângelo Paupério, Co-CEO of Sonae.
“This performance was equally positive in terms of profitability, with aggregated EBITDA growing by 10% when compared with the same period of 2016, and at the same time strengthening competitive positions without compromising the quality of our value proposals as once again highlighted by the recognition in another DECO study showing we are the retailer offering the lowest prices in the Portuguese market.”
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
