Currency variations drag Cencosud sales down

The Chilean retail group Cencosud has reported a drop in sales of 6.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2016 for its DIY division, although the figure was negatively affected by currency fluctuations.
In Chile, the sales of the Easy stores rose by 6.5 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year to CLP 135.675 bn, while same stores sales grew by 3.7 per cent. Sales by the Easy and Blaisten outlets in Argentina grew in local currency by 24.3 per cent, driven by 21.9 per cent same stores sales growth. In Chilean pesos revenues dropped by 15.1 per cent due to the devaluation of the Argentinian peso. Although sales in Colombia rose in local currency by 9.7 per cent and same stores sales by 9.9 per cent, the figure adjusted for currency translation was down by 6.0 per cent.