Brazilian Retail News

Year 10 - Issue # 395 - So Paulo, July, 11

h
, 2011
Phone: (5511) 3405-6666
BRAZILIAN RETAIL NEWS 1
11/07/2011
Casino says its against Po de Acar/
Carrefour deal
French Casinos CEO Jean-Charles Naouri had a
meeting last week with Brazilian National Social and
Economic Development Bank (BNDES) president Luciano
Coutinho and stressed the company is against the attempted
merger of its local partner Po de Acar and Carrefour.
According to Naouri, this kind of deal should have been
discussed frst with Casino. BNDES has already conditioned
its R$ 4.5 billion (US$ 2.8 billion) investment in the merger
to the approval of the deal by all involved.
Abilio Diniz summons Po de Acar board
Brazilian enterpreneur Abilio Diniz has summoned Wilkes board to meet on August, 2nd. Wilkes is the joint Casino/
Diniz company that controls Po de Acar, Brazils top retailer, and in the meeting the fve board members will discuss
the proposed Po de Acar / Carrefour merger in Brazil. The deal must be approved by all members to go forward to a
general shareholders meeting.
Car sales beat record in H1
Sales of automobiles, light trucks, trucks and buses had in the frst half of the year a 9.97% growth over the same
period in 2010, with 1.73 million units sold. This is an all-time high value for the period, according to the National Car
Dealers Federation (Fenabrave). In June, month-on-month sales dropped 4.46%, to 304,334, but still rose 15.82% over
June last year, so said the trade group.
Netfix goes to Brazil
Online movie rental giant Netfix confrmed it will expand
its operations to 43 countries in Latin America (including
the Caribbean), after starting its international foray with a
Canadian branch last year. The company, today with more
than 23.6 million subscribers, has not announced a timetable
for the expansion, but said Latin American consumers will
access only its streaming services (as in Canada). US
analysts have already forecast Netfix may build a 1.25
million users base in the next 12 months in the region, but
the most optimistic fgures go up to almost 4 million people.
The service will provide movies and TV series in Portuguese,
English and Spanish, in a yet unknown product mix.
Brazilian Retail News
Year 10 - Issue # 395 - So Paulo, July, 11
h
, 2011
Phone: (5511) 3405-6666
BRAZILIAN RETAIL NEWS 2
11/07/2011
Healthy food sales skyrocket 136%
Sales of processed and packaged healthy food rose from
US$ 6.26 billion in 2005 to US$ 14.8 billion in 2010 in Brazil,
a 136% growth, according to an Euromonitor study that
considers diet and light food, as well as functional, organic
and special meals for people with food allergies. In the same
period, the overall food market increased sales by 44%.
DIY sales up 3.5% on year
Sales of building supplies ended June with a 3.5% year-to-date rise, according to trade association Anamaco. Sales
were stable over May and also year-on-year, due to Corpus Christi holiday. The results made Anamaco reduce its growth
forecast from 8.5% to 6%.
Brazilian franchisors invest in China
Brazilian Franchising Association (ABF) and Apex-
Brasil led six Brazilian companies last week to the Macau
Franchise Expo, in China, as part of the third joint mission
of the entities, in a move to introduce Brazilian brands
overseas.
Electronics sales to rise 15% this year
The rise of midclass consumers and the technological improvements will drive the local electronics market to a 15%
sales rise this year over 2010, according to trade group Eletros.
Cencosud prepares expansion in Brazil
Chilean retailer Cencosud has prepared its expansion
plan in Brazil. The main project relies on Bretas supermarket
chain, purchased last October. The goal is to expand the
Minas Gerais-born brand to So Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and
Esprito Santo states, opening 40 stores in the next two years
and leading the chain to 110 supermarkets. Another step
will be the expansion of G.Barbosa chain in the Northeast,
with the opening of the frst store in Recife by January and
another three up to 2013.
Brazilian Retail News
Year 10 - Issue # 395 - So Paulo, July, 11
h
, 2011
Phone: (5511) 3405-6666
BRAZILIAN RETAIL NEWS 3
11/07/2011
Credit, the driver of spending growth
Marcos Gouva de Souza - CEO, GS&MD - Gouva de Souza
Momentum
From 2001 to 2010, in Brazil personal loans rose from R$ 82.65 billion (US$ 51,65 billion) to R$ 549 billion (US$ 343.1
billion), an amazing growth of 564.2% in nominal terms (497.6% excluding infation). In the period, it rose from 5.9% of the GDP
to 14.9%. In May 2011, the credit volume reached R$ 595.9 billion (US$ 372.43 billion).
Among the drivers of the domestic spending, the rise of income, the job market improvements and the growth of the
consumer confdence were relevant, but the expansion of credit was the one that most decisively infuenced the growth of the
family spending and the overall economy.
Broadly speaking, the expansion of credit, for consumers and companies, although still very expensive due to high interest
rates (much above the global average), has been the main factor speeding up the Brazilian GDP growth. Even rising to 54% of
the GDP in May this year, it remains as one of the lowest in the world, signifcantly below more mature economies, thus with
plenty of room to grow.
The recent performance of default, in a slightly rising trend and above the periods seasonal average rate, is a consequence
of this rise of offer and the growth of spending, as families used the broad credit available to increase the purchase of goods,
specially durable ones, as cars, electronics, home appliances, computers and mobile phones.
But looking in a broader perspective, todays default level is way below the historical average, in a clear downward trend,
as a consequence of the mass wage, that in the last fve years has been rising more than 4% per year, reaching 6.9% in 2010.
However, one needs to be careful when analyzing the historical evolution of the default levels, as the offer of payroll loans
from 2005 on created a new reality. This kind of loan has very low, almost zero, default, thus bringing down total default levels.
Excluding payroll loans, fgures would be very different.
Besides that, one needs to consider the evolution of credit analysis, concession and collecting tools used by banks and
retailers, with more technology and control over their processes, highly improving effciency.
In Brazil, the recent approval of the Positive Registry system shall improve all this scenario, in the end even bringing some
reduction on the interest rates on the good credit consumers. It is today just an expectation, hopefully to become true in the future.
There is a huge potential for the expansion of consumer credit in Brazil, but, unfortunately, the reduction of interest rates
is limited by a harsh credit policy, leading consumers to pay much more than anyone else in the world. And in the next years
there is no foreseen change in this scenario, thus refraining an even stronger retail sales growth.
Brazilian Retail News (BRN) is a weekly newsletter published by GS&MD - Gouva de Souza with the most important news
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