Carrefour Brasil beats profit estimates for third quarter

Carrefour Brasil, Brazil’s largest retailer, beat quarterly profit estimates on Wednesday thanks to a solid performance in its operations and a marked reduction in financial costs.

In a securities filing, the company said net income came to 391 million reais ($104.8 million), 67 percent up from the same period a year ago and above the IBES consensus estimate from Refinitiv of 386 million reais.

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a gauge of cash generation known as EBITDA, were 991 million reais, a 32 percent improvement year on year.

The company had previously announced an 8.1 percent increase in gross sales for the quarter, to 13.9 billion reais.

At its warehouse store division Atacadão, gross sales increased 11.2 percent to 9.5 billion reais, due to faster expansion to a rate of 20 new units a year up from 10 to 12 previously, the company said.

In the retail Carrefour division, gross sales grew by 2.2 percent to 4.5 billion reais, reflecting the recovery of large supermarkets and stronger e-commerce, the area of fastest growth in the sector.

Gross merchandise volume (GMV), which measures total online platform sales, including third party transactions, jumped 106 percent year on year.