Grupo Mateus surpasses Pão de Açúcar in the supermarket sector – 05/04/2023 – Market

GPA (Grupo Pão de Açúcar) left the podium of the most recent Abras Ranking, released annually by the Brazilian Association of Supermarkets. With a turnover of BRL 18.5 billion in 2022, the company lost third place to Grupo Mateus, which recorded BRL 24.6 billion in gross revenue last year.

The leadership of the ranking was held by Carrefour for the seventh year in a row. The group moved BRL 108.1 billion in 2022, almost 80% more than Assaí Atacadista, which ranked second. In fifth place, with revenues of R$ 14 billion, was Supermercados BH.

The Abras ranking is produced with the consultancy NielsenIQ, and annually lists the 30 largest companies in the supermarket sector. The figures were presented at an event in the segment in São Paulo and will be featured in the May issue of SuperHiper magazine, produced by the association. The complete publication also brings other data, such as store numbers and efficiency indices.

The supermarket sector added, according to Abras, a total turnover of BRL 695.7 billion in 2022, considering all formats and distribution channels.

GPA owns the Pão de Açúcar, Compre Bem, Market Extra and Colombian Éxito brands. In the first quarter of this year, the company recorded a loss of R$ 248 million. In the same period, in 2022, the group had recorded a profit of R$ 1.4 billion.

The Abras ranking considers the results of 2022, when, in the last quarter, GPA recorded a net loss of BRL 1.1 billion. To investors, the group said, at the time, it had spent BRL 227 million on restructuring. He also claimed to have needed to increase labor and tax contingencies.

Marcelo Pimentel, president of the group, said in a message to investors that last year saw “consolidation of the guidelines of the new GPA”, with the decision to close the hypermarkets and concentrate the operation on premium supermarkets, proximity stores (the smaller units) and adoption of multiple business channels.

He also wrote that “even in a year of transition, with reflections on the profitability of the business”, the group saw 2023 as promising.

The Mateus Group, which took third place at Pão de Açúcar in the Abras ranking, operates supermarkets and wholesale stores in the North and Northeast of the country. In 2020, the group made the biggest IPO (public offering of shares) of that year and raised BRL 4.6 billion.

In 2022, the group recorded net income of BRL 1 billion and, according to the results report, gross revenue of BRL 24.5 billion was a record for the company. Results for the first quarter of 2023 will be released on May 11.

The leader of the Abras ranking had a challenging start to the year. This Wednesday (3), Carrefour saw the price of its shares fall after announcing, on the eve, a net loss of R$ 113 million from January to March 2023. In the same period last year, the company had registered a profit of R$ $370 million.

In disclosing the results, Stéphane Maquaire, CEO of Carrefour, wrote that the profitability in the quarter was pressured by the costs of the purchase of the BIG Group, such as the conversion of stores.

Brazil closed 2022 with 94.7 thousand supermarkets, more than the 92.5 thousand registered in the previous year, and where 28 million consumers passed, who made 245.4 thousand purchases.