Brazilian retailer Grupo Pão de Açúcar (GPA) has reported a 10.4% like-for-like net revenue increase in the second quarter of the year, to R$ 11.8 billion (€2.6 billion).
The positive result was boosted by Assaí, the group’s 'atacarejo' (cash-and-carry wholesale) store format, whose net sales increased 23.5% to R$ 5.3 billion (€1.2 billion).
The retail segment, which includes the Pão de Açúcar supermarket and Extra hypermarket banners, also put in a good performance, with revenue increasing by 1.7%, to R$ 6.5 billion (€1.4 billion).
Gross sales revenue grew 9.9% to R$ 12.8 billion, with Assaí growing by 22.8% to R$ 5.7 billion. Same-store gross sales excluding calendar effects advanced 5.1%, which is better than the group's performance in the first quarter (+2.8%).
According to GPA, a recent truck drivers' strike in Brazil did not have any major negative impact on its results, thanks to the multi-channel and multi-format portfolio.
Retail Share Growth
The market share has increased since March, resulting in a 100 bps gain, with banners Extra Hiper and Pão de Açúcar driving growth.
The rollout of a new 'store-in-store' project at Extra and Pão de Açúcar stores continued, with the goal of boosting the value proposition, and the retailer currently has four partners availing of the programme; Etna, Bacio di Latte, Daiso and Swift.
Two pilot projects were launched: Compre Bem, a pilot project for the conversion of 20 stores to a new proximity format; and Mercado Extra, which aims to boost Extra Super by reinforcing the quality of perishables and customer service.
GPA added that the My Discount application now has around six million downloads and saw around 35% growth in monthly purchases by loyal customers.
Elsewhere, its Pão de Açúcar and Minuto banners have started accepting digital payment methods, such as Apple Pay and Samsung Pay.
Wholesale Division
Three new stores opened in the quarter, totaling 20 openings in the last 12 months, across nine different states of Brazil. Nine stores are under construction and one is undergoing conversion.
The 17 Extra stores converted into Assaí continued to deliver strong revenue growth of around 2.5 times.
The roll-out of the Passaí Card across all stores has been completed, with the active portfolio reaching 335,000 clients, with average monthly issuance around 45,000 cards.
GPA ended Q2 with 881 food business stores (retail and wholesale) in 20 Brazilian states and the Federal District. Three new Assaí stores were opened in the quarter, of which one was converted from Extra Hiper.
© 2018 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
