Pão de Açúcar grows 39.4% in sales in Q2
O Estado de S. Paulo
The net sales of Pão de Açúcar amounted to R$ 6.978 billion (US$ 3.9 billion) in the period from April to June, 39.4% above that registered a year before, as informed the biggest retailer of the country this Wednesday. Excluded the operations of Ponto Frio, the net sales grew 12.7% in the annual relation. The company has not provided the comparative data with the immediately prior quarter.In the second quarter of the year, the gross sales of the company amounted to R$ 7.8 billion (US$ 4.3 billion), an increase of 38.5% compared to a year earlier. In May, Pão de Açúcar said it expects an increase of at least 25.9% on the gross sales in 2010, considering the stores of the Ponto Frio chain, to more than R$ 33 billion (US$ 18.3 billion). By the concept of same stores -- that considers only those open for at least a year, excluding the operations of Ponto Frio --, the real gross sales increased 4.6% in the second quarter, "negatively impacted by the seasonal effect of Easter in the month of April and the strong growth of 13.2% on the gross sales in the second quarter of 2009", says the company in the statement sent the market.
The gross sales of food products had a 7.9% growth in the period ended in June, in which stood out the categories of Beverages and Perishable Products. Regarding the sales of non-food products, they grew 16.2%, with emphasis for the category of electric and electronic appliances, positively impacted by the FIFA Soccer World CupTM. The e-commerce operations of Grupo Pão de Açúcar, which include Pontofrio.com.br and Extra.com.br, registered growth of 45.4% in the second quarter. In the first half, the net sales of Grupo Pão de Açúcar totaled R$ 13.9 billion (US$ 7.72 billion), an amount 44.6% greater than the amount sold in the first half of last year. The company also informed that 13 stores were open in the second quarter. The group foresees the opening of 100 stores in 2010, with investments estimated at R$ 1.6 billion (US$ 889 million).