GPA will focus on expansion of atacarejo in the North and Northeast in 2016, reduces investments

SAO PAULO-the retail network will focus expansion efforts GPA in your atacarejo Assai flag this year, expanding the brand''s presence in at least five new capital and prioritizing the regions North and northeast of the country, claimed company executives on Thursday.
The company plans to open stores 2016 Assaí equal or bigger than the 11 inaugurations occurred last year.
The total investment of the GPA is provided in 1.5 billion dollars for this year, falling to 2 billion disbursed in 2015.
The Chief Executive of the company, Ronaldo Iabrudi, said during a teleconference with industry analysts that will drive investment month to month, quarter to quarter, "depending on how the company''s profitability indicators, which provides for keeping prices aggressive this year. He also commented that the company will prioritize store formats also Minute, plus conversion of stores.
According to Iabrudi, the atacarejo thread has "a very large opportunity in the North and northeast (...) The thread has more ease (of expansion) in these regions in the South and Southeast because more than half the clientele is legal entity and because the logistics structure is not so good, "said the Executive.
The company had a loss of 415 million reais in the fourth quarter, reversing positive result of 673 million a year earlier. The net revenue was virtually stable, to 19.7 billion dollars in the period. The actions of the GPA retreated to 0,6% 12:38, in line with the fall of Ibovespa.
For analysts at Credit Suisse, the GPA issued underwhelming result as a whole, despite the cost-cutting efforts to minimize the effects of weak revenues. Analysts, however, recognize that "a sound financial position of the company will allow her to navigate through the most challenging macroeconomic environment and eventually capture market share".
The President of the GPA commented during the Conference call that the company expects to gain market share in the flag Assai in terms of same store sales open at least a year and that it expects the company to recover market share lost in the flag of hypermarkets Extra.