SMU reported financial results for the third quarter of 2024, reaching revenues of CLP 734.6 billion, a 2.8% increase from the same period in 2023, driven by 3.6% growth in the Unimarc format. In the first nine months of the year, the company posted revenues of CLP 2,137.384 billion, up by 0.7% from the CLP 2,123.536 billion generated between January and September 2023.

“Our customers have responded positively to the promotional activities implemented in the second quarter, which continued in the third, with a focus on essential products highly sensitive to price, boosting competitiveness with more attractive prices,” said Marcelo Gálvez, SMU’s CEO.

Online sales through the company's platforms and last-miler partnerships grew by 28%.

Accumulated EBITDA as of September reached CLP 165.481 billion, down 14.2% from the same period last year. This was mainly due to a shift in the sales mix, with a higher share of basic products affecting the company’s gross margin, along with pressures on operating expenses. "In the early fourth quarter, we have achieved an improvement in our gross margin due to greater commercial efficiency, and we expect this trend to continue, leading to recovery in both sales and in gross and EBITDA margins,” added Gálvez.

Progress on the 2023-2025 Strategic Plan

Between July and September, the company opened nine new locations, including five Unimarc stores, two Super 10 stores, and one Alvi in Chile, and one Maxiahorro in Peru. This represents a record number of store openings in a single quarter, advancing omnichannel growth. "Adding the openings from the first half of 2024 and all of 2023, we have opened 28 new stores as part of this plan, which have contributed to sales growth and, on average, have outperformed expectations in sales and EBITDA,” said SMU’s CEO.

In terms of customer experience, the company continued developing its private-label brands, launching more than 100 new products this year, expanding the product range, and helping customers save.

In the area of efficiency and productivity, initiatives have been implemented to mitigate the impact of inflation, higher minimum wages, and increases in electricity rates on operating expenses. For instance, the Sustainable Store project includes automatic climate and lighting control, achieving energy savings with a 5-10% reduction in consumption in stores implemented this year. Additionally, the company is in the process of tendering to increase the number of installations with free-market electricity rates, expanding from 15% to 30% of consumption in Chile.

Finally, as part of the company's commitment to a sustainable and responsible organization, in September, SMU published its results in the S&P Corporate Sustainability Assessment 2024, where the score rose from 62 to 68, placing SMU in the top 5% of companies assessed to date (score and percentile as of September 17, 2024. The score ranges from 0 to 100). “We are very pleased with this result, which reflects our progress in sustainability management. We achieved improvements across the three assessed areas: governance and economics, environmental, and social,” stated Marcelo Gálvez.