Brazilian retail market leader GPA has reported a 24% increase in total gross sales in the fourth quarter of 2019, to R$ 18.9 billion (€4 billion).
For full-year 2019, consolidated gross revenue at GPA, which is majority owned by France's Groupe Casino, reached R$ 61.5 billion (€13.2 billion), of which R$ 59.1 billion was generated in Brazil (+10.3%).
Domestic Sales
In Brazil alone, GPA reported quarterly gross sales of R$ 16.5 billion (+8.4%) in the fourth quarter, with double-digit growth in the wholesale/cash & carry segment, in which it operates the Assaí banner.
Assaí gained 19.7% in quarterly gross revenue to R$ 8.74 billion, after 13 of the 22 new stores opened in 2019 were inaugurated in the last quarter, with the banner ending the year with 166 stores. Like-for-like sales grew 9.9% compared to Q4 2018.
Retail Operations
GPA’s 'multivarejo' division, which includes the Pão de Açúcar, Extra and Compre Bem banners, saw gross revenues shrink 2% to R$ 7.77 billion.
Like-for-like sales in the same period were down 0.9% mainly due to the performance of Extra hypermarkets.
However, sales performance was impacted by the acceleration in the number of stores undergoing renovation and refurbishment.
GPA's new Mercado Extra concept was introduced to the Brazilian Northeast region with 18 stores converted in the quarter. During 2020, the conversion of Extra Super stores to Mercado Extra will be completed, the group said.
Across the group, e-commerce sales grew more than 40% compared to 2018, and now account for 6% of the revenues of the Pão de Açúcar banner.
Carrefour Brasil
Meanwhile, GPA's main rival, Carrefour Brasil, saw an 11.4% annual increase in gross sales, to R$ 16.84 billion (€3.6 billion), with like for sales up 7.6%.
The wholesale cash & carry unit, represented by the Atacadão banner, achieved sales of R$ 11.9 billion (+10.8% year-on-year, +5.5% LFL), driven by expansion.
The retail segment (Carrefour) saw sales of R$ 5.8 billion (+12.8% year-on-year).
The company opened 20 Atacadão stores in 2019, of which eight in the fourth quarter.
Carrefour Brasil ended 2019 with 692 stores, of which 186 were under the Atacadão banner. In addition to the 20 openings of Atacadão, the group opened three supermarkets, five convenience stores and two gas stations.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
