Sonae MC, the food retail arm of Portugal's Sonae Group, has posted a 1.1% increase in like-for-like sales in the first quarter of its financial year.
Sonae MC, which operates the Continente banner, said that it commenced the year with 'strong top-line growth', despite the negative calendar effect of Easter, with turnover up 7.4% to €1.05 billion in there period. Underlying EBTIDA was up 8.1% compared to the same period last. year.
'This solid performance was backed by the positive evolution in turnover, which compensated the pressure of the challenging competitive environment and investment of the ongoing expansion programme', the retailer said.
The group opened three stores under its Continente Bom Dia banner in the period, as well as one Continente Modelo store.
Arenal Acquisition
In addition, the completion of the acquisition of Arenal, a pharmacy and cosmetics brand, has helped boost the group's position in the Health & Wellness segment, which it described as one of its 'main strategic pillars'.
Across the entire Sonae group, the business saw turnover rise 8.9% to €1.46 billion, with consolidated EBITDA rising by 33.4%.
It invested some €116 million in capital expenditure, an increase of 64%, largely related to the completion of the Arenal acquisition.
'A Good Start'
“Sonae has had a good start to the year, despite the adverse calendar effect of a later Easter period," commented Cláudia Azevedo, CEO of Sonae.
"Despite a significant increase in our total investment level (+64% y.o.y.), mainly driven by the Arenal acquisition, our capital structure remains strong," she added. "Our gearing level continued to decrease y.o.y. and is now down to 0.5x, and our main businesses continue to show conservative balance sheets. Our debt now has a longer maturity profile and low funding costs, thus maintaining conditions to both support the growth strategies of our businesses and our shareholder remuneration policy."
© 2019 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.
