Juan Valdez sales and profits soaring

Tiendas Juan Valdez increased its sales by 80% in the first quarter of 2008 compared with the first quarter of 2007, says Procafecol, the group which manages the Colombian coffee-shop chain. In the first three months of this year, the chain posted sales of Peso$16.163bil (US$9mil). In a year, the chain has doubled in size to reach 100 outlets in Colombia with growth going on internationally too. The first of eight coffee-shops planned for Chile in association with Grupo Falabella this year has already opened, for example. Gross profits for the Procafecol chain in the
first quarter of 2008 came to Peso$8.943bil, a rise of 97% over January-March 2007.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: April 23, 2008

Carrefour and Colsubsidio to create joint drug-store chain

Carrefour is to enter the Colombian drug-store market in alliance with Colsubsidio, the French giant hoping to open 45 outlets in its existing hypermarkets and in those it will be opening this year. The Colsubsidio supermarkets will remain in competition with Carrefour, explains Diana Londono of the former.

The new chain will carry the names of both firms in some form. Colsubsidio registered medicine sales of Peso$183bil last year for a 5.5% national market-share. It boasts 125 drug-stores in Cundinamarca and will look to open another 20 exclusive of the alliance with Carrefour.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: March 16, 2008

Cencosud and Vale do Rio Doce keep the faith in Colombia

Big regional players Vale do Rio Doce and Cencosud - of Brazil and Chile respectively - will not be suspending investment in Colombia despite the escalating row between the latter nation and its neighbours Ecuador and Venezuela.

The executive director of finance at the diversified mining giant Vale, Fabio Barbosa has said that he expects the row to be solved before it reaches true crisis proportions. The firm is considering establishing an aluminium-processing plant in Colombia or in the Middle East as confirmed by company president Roger Agnelli.

The leading executive within the holding company Cencosud, Laurence Golborne has reassured Colombia that his operation invests with a long-term mentality always. It will not be put off by this (for now merely) diplomatic row as it gets its alliance with Casino, involving the Easy format, underway locally.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: March 12, 2008

Femsa to bring Oxxo to Colombia

Femsa, the Mexican company, is to introduce its Oxxo convenience-store format to Colombia as well as other South American countries. In Mexico, Oxxo stores now represent 29% of Femsa sales. The company's Colombian operations are limited thus far to Coca-Cola production and bottling.

Javier Astaburuaga, director of finance at the group, says that Oxxo stores will not open immediately in Colombia but that they shouldn't take too long (i.e. before 2009). In 2007, Oxxo opened 716 stores to reach a total of 5,563. Late last year, Femsa gave out the Oxxo license for Colombia to the owner of a store in Ciudad Salitre, Bogota, for three years but the license only relates to the brand not the format or the concept. Femsa's gross Colombian margin rose from 44.8% in the final quarter of 2006 to 51.2% in the last three months of 2007.

Publication: SABI - Business News
Provider: South American Business Information
Date: February 27, 2008

Chilean Cos Rise Investments in Colombian Retail, Construction, Energy Sectors

A boom of the Chilean investments in the retail, construction and energy sectors of Colombia has been registered in the last few months, Colombian daily Portafolio said on December 17, 2007.

Chilean investments in Colombia have totalled $4.3 bln (2.94 bln euro) since 1990, according to data of the Colombian Foreign Affairs Ministry. In the first years of that period 90 pct of the investments were made in the Colombian energy sector, the Chilean ambassador in Bogota, Gabriel Gaspar, said. In the last few years investments in the construction and retail sectors are constantly growing, he added. More than 40 Chilean companies have investments in Colombia at present, Gaspar was quoted as saying. They are increasing the investments mainly due to the economic stability.

Chile and Colombia are also currently discussing the signing of a free trade agreement (FTA) between them. Their trade exchange totalled $850 mln (581.32 mln euro) in 2006, while it stood at more than $1.0 bln (683.9 mln euro) over the January-September 2007 period.

Publication: Business Digest
Provider: AII Data Processing Ltd.
Date: December 18, 2007