With online sales boost, Lojas Americanas overcomes coronavirus impact in q1

Lojas Americanas had a slight improvement in results in the first quarter, as strong sales growth in its digital arm more than offset the first impacts of social isolation on its physical stores. The company announced on Thursday (7) that it had net revenue of 4.06 billion reais between January and March, an increase of 14.2% compared to a year earlier. Revenue from the digital operation jumped 32.3% to R$ 1.7 billion. On the other hand, with the beginning of the social distancing from the second half of March, the physical platform was impacted by the closing of stores. The operating suspension mainly hit stores in shopping malls (about 30% of the total) but also impacted street stores in a timely manner. Still, revenue in the same stores concept was 2% higher. High street stores grew by 6.5% and shopping mall stores fell 4.2%. Lojas Americanas' operating income in the quarter, measured by adjusted earnings before taxes, interest, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda), totaled R$ 587.7 million, an increase of 4.8% year-on-year. The Ebitda margin fell 1.3 percentage points to 14.5%. According to Lojas Americanas, an additional effect of pandemic containment measures was a shift in demand, with a sharp drop in items such as clothing, toys, while hygiene products, baby care and beverages advanced strongly. The company had a net loss of R$ 49.2 million in the quarter, a loss 8% lower than in the same phase of 2019. Lojas Americanas said it closed March with cash and cash equivalents of R$ 12.8 billion.