Brazil’s Magazine Luiza posts Q2 adjusted net loss hit by high interest rates

SAO PAULO (Reuters) -Brazilian retailer Magazine Luiza SA posted on Thursday an adjusted net loss of 112.1 million reais ($21.76 million), posting a loss for the second straight quarter as its bottom line was hurt by the country’s high interest rates.

Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 8% year-on-year to 492.1 million reais.

Magazine Luiza posted a 1.3% growth in total sales to 13.92 billion reais. E-commerce sales grew 2% in the quarter to 10 billion reais.

The company’s financial and investor relations director, Roberto Bellissimo, told Reuters that sales of more traditional categories like electronics tend to reflect the evolution of macroeconomic indicators in the second half of the year, citing improvements in inflation and interest rate, which the market believes to have reached its peak in the current high cycle.

($1 = 5.1505 reais)

(Reporting by Andre Romani; Editing by Anthony Esposito and Brendan O’Boyle)