The Mexico and Central America division of Walmart announced on Wednesday that its net profit for the second quarter increased by 9.3%, driven by higher sales and increased store traffic.
Net profit reached 12.51 billion pesos (approximately 684.12 million USD), slightly below the average forecast of 12.872 billion pesos predicted by analysts through an LSEG survey. Revenue grew by 6.4% to 225.75 billion pesos, also slightly below expectations.
Reportedly, same-store sales in Mexico grew by 5.5%, while in Central America, they increased by 2.6%.
The company stated that the profit growth was due to the development of various store formats and the strong performance of newly opened stores during the quarter.
Walmart noted that expenditures in Mexico and Central America are increasing due to the opening of new stores, hiring more employees, and investing in e-commerce.
This is the first quarterly performance since the company's board appointed Ignacio Caride as the new CEO in late April of this year.
Caride, the former head of e-commerce, stated in a release: "Our commercial strategy continues to focus on omnichannel capabilities to better serve our customers, while placing greater emphasis on enhancing automation, digitalization, and streamlining processes."
