Via Retail will increase investment in 2018, will open up to 80 stores

SAO PAULO (Reuters)-the network of furniture and appliances Via Retail aims to raise substantially your investment in 2018 and open 70 to 80 shops to augment the physical trade integration with online, said executives of the company controlled by GPA, on Thursday.
The company is working this year with higher stocks on the prospect of larger sales that in the same period in 2016.
"We''re just detailing the numbers (for 2018), but we can say that the investment will be significantly higher than this year," said the Chief Executive of Via retail, Peter Estermann, on quarterly results conference call.
Via Retail ended September with 966 stores in Brazil, down from 975 at the end of last year.
The company announced the night before adjusted net profit of 14 million dollars for the third quarter, compared with a loss of 156 million a year earlier. The operating result measured by Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) reached 346 million dollars, a jump of 407% before the 68 million obtained in the same step of 2016.
At 13:18, the units Via Retail 3,1% drop displayed. The papers are not part of the Ibovespa index, which rose 0,2% at the same time.
From January to September, Via Retail 143 million reais invested, 24% growth on applied in same period in 2016. Of the total invested, nearly half, 74 million reais, was targeted at information technology.
Estermann gave no details on the amount to be invested through Retail in 2018, but cited a series of initiatives that will require more enterprise technology and logistics capabilities.
The initiatives include the prediction of complete integration of logistics and fiscal systems until April of next year, which will allow the group to expand significantly the tools of the so-called "omminichannel", a concept in retail which refers to the complete integration of channels physical and online sales.
In this concept, the company will continue betting on the possibility of offering customer offer to purchase products over the internet and removal of physical stores of the company.
In addition, Estermann said the quarter launched a Retail Route system of pricing, which allows prices sprayed different in micro-regions, which should generate in the coming months an increase "in the margin and the result of the company".
"This gives more speed to adjust to a market more compectitivo day by day," said the Executive, adding that the technology also allows a segmentation of prices in online sales.
Via Retail also intends to expand aggressively in 2018 your marketplace, including third-party vendors, and should start tests this year with kiosks format up to 40 square meters. "It''s To bring more our presence in high-traffic areas and test entry into smaller markets," said Estermann.