Wal Mart de Mexico SAB de CV

BMV:WALMEX

Earnings Call Analysis

Walmex Reports Robust Q3 2023 Growth

Walmex had a vigorous third quarter in 2023, highlighted by a high single-digit revenue surge and significant outpacing of ANTAD's self-service by 150 basis points. Operating income impressively outstripped sales growth by 110 basis points. Central America saw a robust 7.9% uptick in same-store sales despite inflationary pressures, contributing to the company's 9% revenue climb, excluding foreign exchange impacts. E-commerce continued its upward trajectory, with sales expanding by 51% and serving as a notable growth driver. New store openings further augmented Walmex's geographical footprint, enhancing customer access to its value-driven offerings. On the environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) front, Walmex's continued recognition in the FTSE4Good Emerging Index underscores its commitment to sustainable practices. Amidst regulatory challenges, Walmex remains confident in its compliance and positive impact. Entering the year’s final stretch, the company is well-prepared for the bustling holiday season.

Growth Outpacing Competitors and Expansion of Own Brands

The company has demonstrated robust growth as its own brand product sales rocketed by a significant 11% compared to the previous year. The penetration of these brands has also seen an uplift, contributing to a 15% share of the company's total sales, which is particularly impressive when considering that nearly half of all customers purchased these products during their store visits. This emphasis on own brands is further emphasized by the launch of almost 700 new products. Additionally, the company's performance surpassed market growth measured by ANTAD by 150 basis points, marking the largest gap since the second quarter of '21.

E-Commerce and Omnichannel Strategies Fueling Growth

E-commerce continues to be a significant growth driver, with e-commerce GMV increasing by 19% and net sales rising by 15%, representing over 5% of total sales. This growth is bolstered by successful initiatives like the 'Despensa a tu Casa' program, which has seen orders more than double compared to the same period last year. Furthermore, innovations such as the 1-hour delivery service, now available in over 250 stores, reinforce the company's commitment to leading in omnichannel retailing. The marketplace, serving as a main growth driver, saw a 40% increase in GMV and expanded its seller base by over 50%.

Broadening Ecosystem with Mobile, Advertising, and Health Verticals

The company is not just a retail store but is cementing its position as an ecosystem of choice with verticals like BAIT, its mobile virtual network operator, which boasts a strong 8 million active users. This segment has experienced an 85% increase in users, indicating a successful penetration into the digital economy. Additionally, Walmart Connect manifested a growth of 33% in advertising, floating more campaigns than the previous year, and the recently launched medical service center will complement the vision of providing affordable medical services.

Solid Central America Performance despite Adverse Economic Conditions

The company's Central America operations delivered promising results, with same-store sales climbing by 7.9%, even amid falling inflation rates. Such performance reflects a significant growth translating into an impressive 9% increase in total sales, excluding foreign exchange impacts. This has resulted in a gain in market share in both value and volume. Their expansion in e-commerce services in Guatemala and quick delivery in Costa Rica and Guatemala signify a tailored approach to meet varied customer needs. Additionally, 27 new stores were opened in the quarter, contributing to a 1.6% growth in consolidated sales.

Commitment to Environmental and Social Governance

The company has continued to reinforce its commitment to sustainability and good corporate governance practices, marking its eighth successive year in the esteemed FTSE4Good Emerging Index. In addition, the company has addressed concerns surrounding a notification from COFECE's Investigative Authority, standing by its compliance with law and benefit to communities. They are prepared to defend their practices and have been cooperative throughout the investigative process.

Financially Upholding Amidst Rising SG&A Expenses

Financially, the company demonstrated a strong quarter with total revenue up by 9.5%, underpinned by an 8% growth in same-store sales and e-commerce contributions. Gross margins have improved by 70 basis points through strategic verticals and favorable FX movements. Despite a 12.6% rise in SG&A expenses, operating income and EBITDA margins grew, with the latter expanding by 10 basis points to 11.1%, evidencing effective cost management and robust operations.

Earnings Call Transcript 2023-Q3

[Salvador Villasenor, executive]

Good afternoon, I am Salvador Villasenor, in charge of Investor Relations at Walmex. Thank you for joining us today to review the results for the third quarter 2023. Today with me is Guilherme Loureiro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Walmart de México y Centroamérica; and Paulo Garcia, our Chief Financial Officer. The date of this webcast is October 25, 2023. Today’'s webcast is being recorded and will be available at www.walmex.mx.

Before we start, let me remind you that the content of this webcast is property of Wal-Mart de México S.A.B. de C.V. and is intended for the use of the company's’ shareholders and the investment community. This webcast may contain certain references concerning Wal-Mart De Mexico S.A.B. de C.V. future performance that should be considered as good faith estimates made by the Company.

These references only reflect management’s expectations and are based upon currently available data. Actual results are always subject to future events, risks, and uncertainties, which could materially impact the company's’ actual performance.

Now, it is my pleasure to turn the call over to our CEO, Gui Loureiro.

[Guilherme Loureiro, executive]

Thanks, Salvador. Hello everyone and welcome to our third quarter earnings webcast. We are glad to share with you the results of a strong third quarter where we achieved a high single-digit revenue growth, with operating income increasing 110 basis points above sales growth. Additionally, we outpaced ANTAD Self-Service in Mexico by 150 bps, representing the broadest gap in 8 quarters.

While we are happy about this increase, please note that we are contemplating using not only this but also additional measures which would allow us to better reflect market participation. Also, we would contemplate using a broader definition of market participation, which takes into consideration other competitors which are not included in the ANTAD classification and which we believe represent our true market and competition.

We know our customers prioritize value, access and affordability which we are able to provide through our EDLP philosophy. They are shopping with us across all channels, and appreciating the benefits we are giving them through our whole ecosystem.

I would like to briefly remind you about our 3 key strategic priorities: Win in discount, lead in omni and be the ecosystem of choice. We will be referring to all of them throughout this webcast, but first let’s begin by looking at our top line performance this quarter.

During the third quarter 2023, Mexico and Central America delivered a 9.5% and 9.0% sales growth, respectively. Excluding FX effects in Central America, Walmex reported a 9.4% sales growth during the quarter. Walmex reported an 8.8% Operating income growth. Excluding FX effects in Central America, Walmex reported a double-digit growth of 10.5%, well ahead of sales, with Mexico and Central America growth of 9.7% and 15.7% respectively.

Now let’s go through our sales performance in Mexico.

During the quarter, same-store sales grew 8.0%, out of which approximately 2.8% came from increase in ticket and 5.2% from traffic. Our efforts in our strategic priority, “win in discount”, are being well received by our customers. Price perception for Bodega improved 90 bps compared to last year. In Bodega, it is interesting to point out that 6 out of every 10 tickets have at least one item from our Morralla campaign, which aims to offer our clients even more affordable products, ranging from MXN 5 to MXN 35.

Regarding Sam's ’Club, our members are finding value in upgrading to a Plus membership. Around 100 thousand members upgraded their membership each quarter, reaching almost 60% share of Plus members in this third quarter who also increase frequency compared to non-Plus members. For our customers without a membership, we hosted another edition of the Open House Event, where they can shop at our clubs, discover the benefits and try first-hand the merchandise that we offer. This edition reported a 23.4% sales increase compared to last year's event and helped capture almost 50,000 new members and almost 130,000 renewals for Sam's.

At some of our Supercenter and Walmart Express stores, mainly the ones located at A&B locations, we have been focusing on 3 main key initiatives to regain momentum: first, provide an upgraded fresh offering, which allowed us to recover market share; second, an enhanced assortment with high quality products; and finally, elevate our customer experience by improving the look and feel at stores with better signaling, illumination and revamped display for our fresh category. This has already reflected in higher traffic and an increase in NPS, net promoter score, of 720 basis point compared to last year in our Walmart Express stores.

Our Back-to-School main seasonal event during the quarter grew 8.6% compared to last year event, underpinned by our best prices offering to our customers. We observed a shift on this campaign from August to September, mainly due to the school supply lists not being released until the end of August.

Regarding merchandise divisions, food and consumables continue to be the main sales growth driver. General merchandise, representing approximately 30% of total sales, reported a mid-single digit year-over-year growth. We have observed a cautious consumer environment that waits for the right moment to buy higher ticket products at relevant sales events, and that is why we expect to see a similar effect at the Fin Irresistible compared to what happened during Hot Sale in second quarter '23, where we reported a significant GM sales increase.

And finally, Apparel, which represents a low-single-digit of our total sales, has recovered its growth path after several quarters. We are also working to widen the brand assortment in our marketplace.

Now I would like to highlight the importance of our private brand strategy by giving you some interesting data points. In the third quarter of 2023, our brands same-store sales grew 11% compared to the previous year, increasing 300 basis points above the commercial brands growth. We already have near 7,000 products of our brands and we have launched and relaunched almost 700 products in the first 9 months of the year.

Our brands penetration grew 80 bps above last year levels reaching 15% share. It is important to point out that during the quarter, 45% of our customers purchased at least one product from our brands during their visit to our stores. The brands with the highest participation during the third quarter were great value in Aurrerá, representing almost 80% share while the categories with the highest participation during this third quarter '23 were home and groceries. Member’s mark continues with a higher than 20% penetration of Sam's total sales.

Finally, in Central America, Our brands continue increasing penetration, reaching approximately 20% in the quarter. Our brands continue being a key element for our strategy, increasing the number of products launched during the quarter related to seasonal events.

Following on another of our strategic priorities, lead in omnichannel. During the third quarter, e-commerce GMV grew 19% underpinned by on-demand and marketplace. Mexico's’ e-commerce net sales grew 15%, representing 5.1% of total sales and contributing 0.7% to total sales growth. We continue rolling out our on-demand Initiatives in our stores. Our 1-hour delivery offer is already implemented in more than 250 stores. Also, in “Despensa a tu Casa”, in the third quarter we reached more than 4 million orders, which is 2.2x more than what we had during the same period of last year.

Walmart Pass continues to be seen as a valuable solution for home deliveries by our customers. Our customers that hold this membership spend 50% more than non-members, and their frequency increases from 2 to 3.5x.

Regarding Extended Assortment, marketplace continues to be the main driver of growth, reporting a 40% increase year-over-year in marketplace GMV. During the quarter, we increased the number of sellers more than 50% and more than tripled our number of SKUs compared to the same period of last year.

We continue improving our Omnichannel-logistics network to offer a better delivery experience to our customers. This quarter, we converted 2 new distribution centers, Culiacan and Chihuahua, implementing full omnichannel capabilities. Now we have 4 omnichannel DCs from where we can send merchandise indistinctively to stores or final customers directly.

Regarding our third strategic priority to become the ecosystem of choice, I would like to briefly comment on each of our verticals: BAIT, our mobile virtual network operator, reached at the end of the quarter 8 million active users, an increase of over 85% year-over-year. This is helping our customers have very low-cost access to the digital economy, increasing engagement and frequency in our ecosystem. We believe that our growth could even be larger, but an unexplainable scarcity of mobile phones is artificially limiting demand. We are working with suppliers and the Mexican authorities to solve this issue.

Walmart Connect posted yet another strong performance this quarter, reporting a 33% growth year-over year compared to third quarter '22, mainly driven by having launched 30% more campaigns than last year.

Regarding Cashi, we continue moving forward with the Trafalgar Systems integration in order to allow our customers access to an open loop system. We are currently in the internal testing process and we are looking forward to communicating exciting news in the coming quarters, since this is a key priority for us. We know this has taken more time than expected but we are confident that it will be a successful rollout.

Turning to our health initiative. A couple of weeks ago, we opened our first medical service center in our Supercenter Plaza Oriente, at which we have already served close to 1,500 patients within the first 18 days of operation. This center is key to our strategy to offer best-in-class medical services at low prices to our customers, complemented through our pharmacies, doctor’s offices and health memberships.

Now concerning our performance compared to the market. During the quarter, we grew ahead of the self-service and clubs market measured by ANTAD by 150 basis points. This has been the broadest gap compared to ANTAD since second quarter '21. During the first nine months of the year, we have also outgrown ANTAD by 50 basis points. Our business is on track to end the year on a high note.

I had mentioned to you in previous quarters that despite progress on volume share, I was not happy with the time it was taking to translate into value share. Once again, customers are responding positively to our low prices policy. We are constantly working on our customer's’ value proposition, commercial offering and price perception to maintain our growth gap and will continue to do so.

Moving towards our Central America operation. Please consider that, when we talk about results in Central America, we are referring to figures on a constant currency basis. Same-store sales grew 7.9% during the quarter compared to the same period of 2022, mainly driven by an important increase in traffic even though inflation had a huge decrease.

We continue to see strong profitable growth across all countries in the region.

Total sales excluding FX effects reported a 9% growth in the quarter which translated with a gain in value and volume share of the market so far this year. Focused on meeting the different needs of our customers, during the third quarter of the year, we launched our e-commerce services in Guatemala for the Bodegas format and implemented delivery services within 120 minutes for supermarkets and hypermarket in Costa Rica and Guatemala. E-commerce is currently available in 112 stores, closing the quarter with a 51% growth in sales and gaining 7 bps share over supermarkets and hypermarkets total sales.

We continue implementing new automation and simplification processes and stepping up monetization initiatives leveraging Mexico to invest behind growth and our ecosystem. During the quarter, we launched Walmart Connect in Central America with good initial results. All of these initiatives have contributed to an improvement in our EBITDA versus last year.

Regarding new stores growth, during the quarter, we opened 27 new stores, out of which 24 were in Mexico, 2 in Honduras and 1 in Costa Rica. Our Bodega formats led in terms of openings. We have also restarted our store growth efforts in Guatemala. New stores contribution to consolidated sales growth was 1.6% for the quarter.

So far in the year, we have opened 61 store expanding our reach and bringing our value proposition to more customers.

Now let me tell you about some news on ESG matters.

For the eighth consecutive year, Walmex was included in the “FTSE4Good Emerging Index of the Financial Times Stock Exchange Russell, due to our solid environmental, social and corporate governance practices within emerging markets, while complying with the ESG inclusion standards recognized worldwide.

Also, I would like to address the recent notification received from COFECE’s Investigative Authority, on which many of you have expressed your concerns. Walmex is confident that it has always complied with applicable law and that, in any case, its actions have benefited clients, club members the communities in which operates and the country in general, by providing the best prices, assortment and quality, as well as to formalize commerce in all the communities where it operates. This is the first opportunity for Walmex to defend itself against the allegation of the Investigative Authority, and we will exercise all rights and remedies available to us under applicable law. During the last 3 years that this investigation lasted, we have complied with all information requests from the Investigative Authority, and now is the time to present our case.

To finalize, we are now heading into the most critical and exciting time of the year for our business, and I am very confident that each one of Our associates will do the best to deliver a great holiday season for our customers.

With that, I’d like to wish you and your loved ones a happy holiday season. Thanks for your interest in our company and I turn it to Paulo to cover the financial results for the quarter.

[Paulo Garcia, executive]

Thanks, Gui and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review the results for the third quarter 2023. I'll ’ll start by covering Mexico’ results and then I’ll cover Central America.

Let’s look at Mexico's results first. As Gui previously mentioned, total revenue grew 9.5%, driven by same-store sales growth of 8% and e-commerce which contributed 0.7% to total sales growth. Gross margin expanded by 70 basis points, helped by the solid contribution of the new verticals, improved commercial margins and lower import costs, driven by an FX benefit.

SG&A grew 12.6%, representing 15.7% of revenues. I will go through the SG&A breakdown in a moment. Operating income grew 9.7%, while EBITDA margin expanded 10 basis points to 11.1% in the quarter.

Now let’s review our SG&A which represented 15.7% of revenues. During the quarter, we were able to offset a labor cost increase of approximately 30 basis points through operational efficiencies to leverage our “run”, that remained stable. We continue to invest behind our associate value proposition, strengthen our omnichannel core business with new stores, and enhance our e-commerce and new verticals. During the quarter, strategic growth investments impacted expenses by 50 basis points. We will continue to see expense leverage volatility quarter-on-quarter, as we drive more productivity in the organization to offset higher labor costs and growth investments.

Now let’s review Central America’s results. Please consider that when I talk about Central America, I will refer to figures on a constant currency basis. Total revenues grew 9%, driven by a 7.9% same-store sales growth. As Gui mentioned, Nicaragua and Guatemala were the biggest contributors to same-store sales growth in the region. This quarter, gross margin expanded 60 basis points to 24.5% due to operating efficiencies that offset price investments to enhance our customer value proposition.

SG&A represented 17.9% of revenues. With the above-mentioned results, operating income grew 15.7% and EBITDA margin expanded 20 basis points to 9.4%. We are happy to see continued profitable growth across all countries in Central America. At total consolidated level, total revenue increased 7.7%, negatively Impacted by the Mexican peso appreciation with new stores contributing 1.6% to total growth accelerating from previous quarters and ahead of the guidance provided in our Walmex Day.

Gross profit increased 10.8% compared to this third quarter of 2022, representing 24.4% of sales, while SG&A grew 10.2% as a result, EBITDA margin was 10.8%, still best-in-class and growing faster than revenues, with 10 basis points improvement compared to last year.

The last 2 preceding quarters we announced that we booked provisions regarding tax matters in a country in Central America. As a result of the continued negotiations with the fiscal authorities of such country, during the first weeks of September, we reached an agreement to cover all past tax liabilities and we got written confirmations of the taxes that will apply going forward. Therefore, a substantial release of the original provision was booked in Q3 results for USD 60 million, positively impacting our consolidated net income, which reported a 12.2% year-over-year growth.

While we believe we had strong legal grounds to uphold our positions, we concluded that the substantial reduction on the amounts claimed and the certainty for the future were the best decision for Walmex.

And now moving to the balance sheet. Cash decreased 5.4% compared to third quarter 2022, mainly due to the first installment of the dividend paid in April.

Inventories grew 2.6%, well below sales, driven by the improvement in groceries and fresh categories, and a good performance in general merchandise from our “Open House” event in Sam's Club.

And finally, accounts payable grew 8.6%, roughly in line with sales. In the last 12 months, we generated MXN 82.8 billion pesos in cash and MXN 6.8 billion pesos through working capital, the latter helping us to improve capital efficiency.

We returned MXN 42.5 billion to our shareholders as dividends, 50% more compared to the same period of last year, due to the special one-off dividend paid in April. We also invested MXN 25.9 billion in high return projects. We paid almost MXN 20 billion in taxes and our growth plan fund required over MXN 4 billion. All in, our cash position finished the third quarter at almost MXN 15 billion.

Finally, I would like to comment that we continue with great confidence in our successful business model and growth potential. Today, our Board of Directors, after considering all relevant factors and hearing expert third-party opinions, approved the relaunch of our MXN 5 billion share buy-back program, approved by our shareholders at our last annual meeting. We intend to repurchase our shares from time to time, up to the maximum amount authorized. The amount of actual share repurchases will be determined by overall capital allocation priorities, including the relative value of our stock at the time. We will be informing of shares that we buy back in accordance with applicable regulations.

To sum up, I would ’d like to leave you with 3 key messages of the quarter. Number one, topline momentum continuing, allowing us to broaden the gap compared to the market in Mexico; number two, our business verticals are maturing, positively impacting our results and our ecosystem; and lastly operating income and EBITDA outpacing sales growth.

Thanks again for your interest in our company and rest assured that we will continue working to meet our long-term ambition as an omnichannel retailer, dedicated to helping people save money and live better, whilst also focusing on delivering our short-term goals. As always, we will make ourselves available to answer the questions you may have.