This was the case for Grupo Éxito until its acquisition, when the stock price began to fall more than the Colcap Index. Retail and utilities stocks are usually classified as defensive, because they deteriorate more slowly than other stocks in a negative climate. In 2014, the average weight of Éxito’s stock in the Colcap Index was 5.2%, but in 2015 it was around 4.6%. 2015’s results have been very positive up to the first half: revenues increased 22.2% with respect to the first half of 2013 reaching COP6.04trn ($2.2bn), while EBITDA increased 20.5% to COP418.6bn ($154m) and a 6.9% margin. During 2014, return-on-assets and return-on-equity where 4.0% and 5.6%, respectively. Net income reached COP458.9bn ($168.9m), a 4.0% margin), increasing 4.7% compared to the previous year. In 2014, Grupo Éxito had COP11.4trn ($4.2bn) in operating revenues, increasing 6.8% compared to 2013, and COP956.5bn ($352m) in EBITDA, increasing 2.6% with respect to 2013, with a margin of 8.4%. The company also has 21 gas stations in its main hypermarkets, it is the first retailer providing virtual mobile services in the country, and it recently launched an international money transfer service.

Grupo Éxito is the third-largest credit card issuer, the second-largest travel agency and the main seller of mandatory vehicle insurance in Colombia. Through joint ventures with industry specialists, Grupo Éxito also offers its clients a portfolio of complementary businesses, which continue gaining share in the firm’s financial results, particularly its real estate business. Grupo Éxito’s corporate focus is retail sales through a multi-format and multi-brand strategy that includes hypermarkets, supermarkets, and convenience and soft-discount stores under brands like Éxito, Carulla and Surtimax in Colombia and Disco, Devoto and Geant in Uruguay. Grupo Éxito’s market share adds up to 44% of the formal market in Colombia and Uruguay. Before its September 2015 acquisition of retail stores in Argentina and Brazil, the company had a network of 591 stores, with a leased area of 270,000 sq metres and 41,090 employees. Groupe Casino holds a stake of about 54% in Grupo Éxito. Through its subsidiaries, it is the largest retailer in Latin America as a whole and specifically in Colombia and Brazil. Grupo Éxito is a subsidiary of Groupe Casino, a long-standing French mass retailer with operations around the world.

Casino stake in exito