Monterrey, Mexico, October 26, 2018 — Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (“FEMSA”) (NYSE: FMX; BMV: FEMSAUBD) announced today its operational and financial results for the third quarter of 2018.
As of the third quarter of 2018, we have made a change to the disclosure related to our businesses formerly named as FEMSA Comercio’s “Retail Division”: We have removed those operations that are not directly related to our proximity store business, namely our restaurant and discount retail units, from this segment. The segment is now named the “Proximity Division”, and will only include proximity and proximity-related operations, most of which operate today under the OXXO brand across markets. This change will provide a more accurate picture of the performance of this key, high- growth business.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS:
- 7.9% revenue growth (8.9% on an organic basis) at FEMSA Consolidated
- 12.1% revenue growth (11.7% on an organic basis) at FEMSA Comercio´s Proximity Division
- 29.5% income from operations growth at FEMSA Comercio’s Health Division
- 41.5% income from operations growth at FEMSA Comercio’s Fuel Division
- 8.2% income from operations growth (-6.9% on an organic basis) at Coca-Cola FEMSA
Eduardo Padilla, FEMSA’s CEO, commented:
“During the third quarter, we continued to see our business units making steady progress. Store counts, comparable sales and gross margins once again grew across retail formats and markets. However, operating margins were under moderate pressure particularly in Mexico, reflecting tight labor conditions and higher operational costs, as well as OXXO’s increased international organic expansion efforts. At Coca-Cola FEMSA, we saw positive top-line performance in several of our markets, particularly Mexico, as well as encouraging signs of progress in other regions, including the recently acquired operations in Guatemala and Uruguay. On the strategic front, there are interesting news as well. We recently announced our entry into Ecuador through our Health Division, with a transaction that is still subject to regulatory approval, and today we are announcing our entry into Peru through the opening of our first OXXO store in the city of Lima. These two announcements reflect our commitment to continue expanding our small-box platform across Latin America.
As we look toward the end of 2018 and into next year, we continue to see some macroeconomic uncertainty in many of our markets, including Mexico and Brazil. However, uncertainty can often bring opportunity, and with that view we are optimistic about our possibilities to create value as we chart our strategic path for 2019 and beyond.”
CONFERENCE CALL INFORMATION:
Our Third Quarter 2018 Conference Call will be held on: Friday, October 26, 2018, 10:00 AM Eastern Time (9:00 AM Mexico City Time). To participate in the conference call, please dial: Domestic US: (866) 575 6539; International: +1 (323) 994 2082; Conference Id: 6746007. The conference call will be webcast live through streaming audio. For details please visit www.femsa.com/investor
If you are unable to participate live, the conference call audio will be available on http://ir.FEMSA.com/results.cfm
