Latin America News & Analysis

Carrefour has reported consolidated sales up 3.7% on an organic basis for the first quarter of 2014, with a "good performance" in France and Spain. Organic growth in emerging markets was +10.5%. Ongoing improvements in France and Spain First quarter sales faced what Carrefour called a "significant -7.4% impact" from a combination of a currency effect (-5.3%), later Easter (01.3%) and a fall...

Latin American wholesaler PriceSmart has reported net warehouse club sales up 11% to USD657.2m for the second quarter of fiscal 2014, ended 28 February. Double digit growth in first half sales Operating income for the quarter was up 8.2% for the quarter, by the end of which PriceSmart operated 32 warehouse clubs. For the first half of fiscal 2014, net sales were up 11.8% year-on-year to USD...

Mexican retailer Soriana has announced plans to invest over MXN4bn (c.USD315m) in 2014, which will mainly be directed towards new store openings and remodelling. Plan will include 25 new stores In addition to new openings, which will begin in April, Soriana will carry out major remodelling of between 30 and 35 stores, and upgrading over 300 outlets across the country. It will also invest in i...

Cencosud has reported an 11% increase in net revenues for the fourth quarter of 2013, and 13% growth for the twelve months ended 31 December. Supermarket revenues in Q4 were up 10.4%, driven by the consolidation of the Colombian supermarket division, a net 34 new stores and positive same store sales in Chile and Argentina. Improvement in Chile Same store sales at supermarkets continued...

Carrefour has revealed plans to increase the international turnover of premium private label range Reflets de France, including an imminent launch in China. Range to make Chinese debut in April Jérôme Bédier, general secretary at Carrefour, revealed the plans at a lunch with France's foreign trade minister Nicole Bricq on 26 March. Mr Bédier said Carrefour hopes to double annual export tu...

The Venezuelan prime minister, Nicolás Maduro, has announced the launch of a 'supply security card', designed to regulate purchases of basic products. Card to be issued in April The government will begin to issue the tarjeta de abastecimiento seguro - supply security card - from 1 April. It will regulate purchases of basic items, using biometric data, to prevent shoppers from buying the same...

Brazilian drugstore retailer RaiaDrogasil has reported a 15.6% growth in gross revenue in 2013, alongside an increase in same store sales of 9.3%, and said that despite challenges, 2013 was also "a year of major breakthroughs." Laying foundation to push forward Organic growth was a feature of the year and, with the same store sales growth, generated a revenue increase of R$0.9bn. RaiaDrogas...

On the first anniversary of its entry into Colombia, Pedro Soares dos Santos, president of Jerónimo Martins, has updated local press on the progress of the Ara store format. Ara is a priority for investment There are now 37 Ara stores open and the retailer plans 50 more for this year. Mr Soares dos Santos said the current phase was one of "consolidation of some learning, strengthening ...

You'll hear a lot about Brazil over the next couple of years, as the nation gets ready to host two of the biggest sporting events in the world: the 2014 World Cup and the Olympic Games in 2016. It's also an election year, with President Dilma Rousseff seeking another term in office this October. These factors, combined with economic improvements over recent years, are making it a growing focus fo...

Spain-based DIA, at its 2014 Investor Day, raised a number of positives it sees for its operations in the medium term, with a particular focus on the expansion of its health and beauty banner Clarel. Clarel conversion has performed well In the presentation DIA’s commercial director, Juan Cubillo, discussed the evolution of the brand ‘From Schlecker to Clarel’. Since the acquisition of Schleck...