DIA increases its underlying net profit by 10.6% in the first nine months of the year

Between January and September, DIA generated gross sales under banner of EUR8.579bn, which represents a 7.6% increase in local currency versus the first nine months of last year. Business conditions in Argentina, Brazil and China remain strong, with a 28.3% hike in gross sales in local currency, reaching EUR2.343bn. This October, DIA is to open its first store in Minas Gerais, which is DIA’s third largest area of activity in Brazil.

In Spain, gross sales under banner reached EUR3.868, up 5.9%.

“Despite the extremely challenging scenario, Q3 2013 has been another good quarter for DIA. In Iberia, we have continued to grow our business in a profitable manner with growth coming from well-executed openings based mainly on the franchise model. Although there are some initial signs of recovery in the economic environment, we remain cautious about the short- term underlying growth prospects of the market, while we continue to see new opportunities for profitable growth through expansion. To conclude, we remain confident in our ability to achieve our targets for 2013, and the hard day-to-day work of our teams allows us to be optimistic about our potential in the mid-term.”, declared Ricardo Currás, CEO of DIA.

Underlying net profit reached EUR142m, 10.6% more than in the first nine months of 2012. DIA’s investment in the first nine months of the year reached EUR234m (excluding the Schlecker acquisition).