Latin America News & Analysis

Casino has reported total group sales of €12bn for the third quarter of 2014, up 1.6% overall and +2.8% on an organic basis. In France, net sales were down 2.6% (-1.6% on an organic basis). Internationally performance was better with organic sales growth of 6.1% and total growth of 5%. Casino's CFO Antoine Giscard d'Estaing commented: "In the third quarter we faced a challenging environment ...

GPA has reported a 10.9% increase in net sales for Q3, and a 6.5% increase in same store sales (both at its consolidated business, including consolidation of Cdiscount). Tough comparisons from Q3 2013 Total net sales growth was mainly driven by new store openings and same store sales growth. A strong comparison base in Q3 2013, when same store sales were up 11.8%, and the difficult economy ...

Carrefour has opened its first Supeco store in Brazil this week (9 October), in Sorocaba, to the west of São Paulo city. Atacadão meets convenience The Supeco is much smaller than Carrefour's Atacadão outlets, at 1,500 - 3,000 sq m, and carries around 2,500 - 3,000 products compared to its larger sibling's 7,000. It is designed for small businesses, foodservice professionals and retail cust...

Costco delivered an impressive performance in the final quarter of the year. Total revenue increased 9.3%, comp store sales were up 7% and net income rose 13.0%. As the retailer focuses on its new financial year, we take a look at what’s shaping its strategy. Increasing capital expenditure Over the last two years Costco has picked up the pace of new store openings, with...

The convenience channel is growing apace around the world. Mexican convenience retailer Oxxo is targeting expansion in the Colombian capital; Total is trialling a new forecourt format in South Africa; 7-Eleven is diversifying strategy across Asia-Pacific and America; Australia's leading retailers Coles and Woolworths are considering expanding into convenience - these are just a few of the recent ...

DIA has opened its first stores in the north-eastern Brazilian state of Bahia. More stores to open before year-end The stores opened on 2 October in Simões Filho and Dias D'Ávila, towns in the vicinity of the state capital Salvador, advertising their 'low wholesale price and ease of shop' highlighting similarities to the popular atacarejo format. DIA's operations director for Bahia said 10 ...

From time spent analysing the latest FMCG developments in Brazil in September, in-store as well as with retailers and suppliers across three states, we share our top trends from the market. 1. Longer-term optimism over the economy A lot has happened over the past 12 months. There's always a lot going on in Brazil, but the last year has been exceptionally busy. The World Cup brought plenty o...

Walmex has officially launched its grocery website in the Zona Metropolitana area of Mexico City. In its first phase of operation, the site also caters to customers of 75 stores in Acapulco, Guadalajara, Mérida, Monterrey, Puebla, Querétaro and Tampico. Building on existing non-food offer Walmex's e-commerce site marked its first anniversary in 2014 and, so far, has been performing in line...

Mexican convenience retailer Oxxo wants to increase its store numbers in the Colombian capital. Targets 100 stores Oxxo currently has around 40 stores in Bogotá and plans to add around five per year to break the 100-store barrier over the next 10 years.  Maximilian Zimmerman, spokesman for Oxxo, said reaching 100 stores was a good marker which would allow them to be much more competitive. ...

Chile-based Cencosud has announced second quarter results saying that revenue rose 5.4% – to CLP2.586 trillion (US$4.4 billion) – in its second quarter ‘as a result of higher revenues from all the business divisions’. The retailer said that its supermarket division had been boosted by the timing of Easter, which occurred in Q2 in 2014, but Q1 in 2013. Growth in most markets… At the retailer...