DIA’s turnover rises by 6.9pc with Spain price-driven sales push

diaMADRID | Supermarket chains serve a few of our basic needs and so the sector is faring better than other industries against the fierce crisis that is lacerating the European economy day in, day out. The same goes for Spain. Distribuidora Internacional de Alimentación DIA, the distribution chain, said Thursday that its sales in Spain had grown by 6 percent during the first half of the year.

DIA reported today that between January and June this year it obtained gross sales under banner of €5.749 billion, which represents a 6.9% increase at constant currency compared to the same period last year. In the second quarter of 2012, turnover grew by 5.5% to €2.929 billion.

The Spanish multinational explained that sales and results performance was driven by the good business behaviour in Iberia and in countries such as Argentina and Brazil.

“It is especially worth highlighting the case of Spain,” the official information release noted, “as despite a challenging economic context, gross sales under banner improved by 6% in the first half of the year, reaching €2.413 billion.”

“While conditions are volatile, DIA is steadily moving ahead,” Ricardo Currás, CEO of DIA Group, said.

Currás remarked that the company is particularly working in improving its competitive edges, namely proximity and price image.

Adjusted net profit reached €61.7 million, an 18.5% increase, while net attributable profit rose sevenfold, reaching €49.3 million. The reason for this increase, DIA said, is the good performance of operating income and the significant reduction in nonrecurring items for the transformation of stores to new formats, in addition to one-off costs such as those related to the IPO in the first half of last year.

There are 47,557 employees working in the company’s 6,833 establishments in Spain, France (under the ED and DIA banners), Portugal (with the name of Minipreço), Turkey, Argentina, Brazil and China (also with the DIA brand). In total, 4,249 stores are owned by the group and more than 2,584 are franchised, making DIA the third franchiser in Europe in the food sector.

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The Corner has a team of on-the-ground reporters in capital cities ranging from New York to Beijing. Their stories are edited by the teams at the Spanish magazine Consejeros (for members of companies’ boards of directors) and at the stock market news site Consenso Del Mercado (market consensus). They have worked in economics and communication for over 25 years.

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