Cencosud’s third-quarter sales down by 2.1 per cent

The Chilean retail group Cencosud has reported sales amounting to CLP 263.407 bn by its home improvement business unit in the third quarter. The figure is down by 2.1 per cent compared with same period last year. Continuing inflation in Argentina, the division's biggest single market, has been given as the reason for the downturn; sales here of CLP 123.891 bn following conversion declined by 7.1 per cent. In local currency, however, the revenue growth was 37.8 per cent. In Chile, sales were up by 3.3 per cent to CLP 122.622 bn. Although the stores in Colombia saw sales increase by 5.0 per cent in local currency, they declined by 1.4 per cent in Chilean pesos to CLP 16.895 bn. In the home improvement segment, Cencosud operates under the Easy brand and also with the Blaisten stores in Argentina.