Ponto Frio earnings grow 12% in quarter
Valor Econômico
Under the management of Grupo Pão de Açúcar since July, Ponto Frio has already started presenting a better performance. In the third quarter, the home appliance chain registered gross sales (of goods and services in the retail) of R$ 1.2 billion (US$ 697.7 million), which represented an increase of 12% in relation to the same period of the previous year. Throughout the first half, the gross income of the retailer had reduced 8% if compared to the first six months of 2008.
The process of purchase of Ponto Frio, which was offered to the market in January, consumed a great part of the attention of the old management of the company, which resulted on the weak performance of the sales in the first half of the year. The team appointed by the new controller, the Pão de Açúcar group, took the rudder of the retailer in July under the command of Jorge Herzog.
Analysts still wait for the disclosure of a "plan of action" of Ponto Frio with the strategies the new team plans to implement. The process is in its final stage and it is expected that Pão de Açúcar presents its goals until the end of November. On the 12 of next month, the company will publish its financial results and the expectation is that, up to then, the group already has a more detailed recovery plan in hand.
According to an announcement of Pão de Açúcar, a series of factors contributed for the better performance in the sales of Ponto Frio in the third quarter, among them, the grater availability of goods in the stores, the greater investment in media with more aggressive and wider promotional campaigns, besides the growth of the sales of white line products stimulated by the reduction in the IPI (Excise tax). Another positive aspect was the greater availability of credit and the process of integration of the credit card portfolios of both companies. The virtual store of Ponto Frio also featured good performance.
According to the analysts of the banks Credit Suisse and Raymond James & Associates, the sales of Pão de Açúcar were above the expectations in the third quarter. On a comparable store basis, the retailer registered growth of 13% in the sales compared to the same quarter of 2008. The Credit Suisse analyst foresaw growth of 6.1%.