Cencosud growing in Chile and Colombia

The home improvement division of the Chilean retail group Cencosud announced sales in the third quarter of CLP 269.109 bn (EUR 354 mio). The figure represents a decline of 13.8 per cent compared with the same quarter in the previous year. Hyperinflation in Argentina, the division's largest market, continues to be behind the downturn; running at a volume of CLP 133.291 bn (EUR 175 mio) converted from the local currency ARS, sales there grew by 29.1 per cent, with same-store sales increasing by 25.7 per cent. In the Cencosud balance sheet, however, this resulted in a fall of 26.6 per cent. In its domestic market in Chile, the home improvement division increased its sales by 3.4 per cent to CLP 118.678 bn (EUR 156 mio) and same-store sales by 4.4 per cent. In Colombia, where the currency COP was revalued compared with the CLP, sales grew by 8.5 per cent to CLP 17.141 bn (EUR 23 mio) and by 5.2 per cent in COP.