Carrefour Brasil posts small rise in Q2 profit, notes inflation pressures

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Carrefour Brasil said on Tuesday its second-quarter adjusted net profit edged up 1.3% from a year earlier, citing solid sales despite inflation pressures.

The local unit of French retailer Carrefour SA reported profits of 600 million reais ($112.1 million), helped by double-digit same-store sales growth.

Net sales rose 36% to 24.0 billion reais, which included food retailer Grupo Big’s results for June, when its acquisition by Carrefour Brasil was concluded. Carrefour’s Atacadao wholesale division posted 30% growth in net sales.

The sales results were driven by a “solid performance in the food category, with volumes growing even in a highly inflationary environment,” Stephane Maquaire, Carrefour Brasil’s chief executive, said in the profit report.

The company’s adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) grew by 24.5% to 1.7 billion reais.

Operating expenses rose 28% from a year earlier to 2.86 billion reais.

The retailer said food inflation since February has led to a change in shopping habits, with customers coming more often but buying fewer items and spending less on average during each visit.

Brazil has been facing persistently high inflation rate since the start of the year.

Carrefour Brasil said it has opened six new cash and carry format stores and four new convenience units, in addition to starting the integration process of Grupo Big, whose acquisition was valued at about $1.3 billion.

($1 = 5.3522 reais)

(Reporting by Andre Romani; Writing by Carolina Pulice; editing by Richard Pullin)