In the first quarter of the year, Arca Continental (AC) experienced a decrease of 3.7 percent in its volumes, excluding gallon, compared to the same period of the previous year. However, the increase in prices and the depreciation of the peso against the dollar contributed to boost its results. AC reported that during this quarter it achieved sales of 57 billion 39 million pesos (mdp), representing an increase of 12.4 percent compared to the previous year. In addition, its operating cash flow increased by 10.2 percent, reaching 10 billion 646 mdp.
Richard Horbach, an analyst at Intercam Casa de Bolsa, commented: “AC's revenues benefited from pricing strategies, and mainly from positive exchange rate effects.” It is expected that in the upcoming quarters these effects will continue to benefit the company's results, along with an improvement in volumes and the implementation of price increases aligned, at least, with inflation.
In Mexico, AC highlighted that the average price per unit box without gallon increased by 5.3 percent, thanks to its strategy of selective price adjustments using digital platforms. In the United States, prices increased by 6.4 percent per box, with a real increase of 2.8 percent, while in Peru the net price per unit box recorded an increase of 2.8 percent.
Arturo Gutiérrez, general director of AC, mentioned: “The growth in sales and EBITDA was due to the excellent performance of our operation in the United States and the recovery in Argentina, reflecting the strength and resilience of our sustainable business model.” The company reported a net profit of four billion 144 mdp, with an annual growth of 10.2 percent and a net margin of 7.3 percent.
Ariel Méndez, an analyst at Grupo Financiero Ve por Más, pointed out that, although AC's results were below expectations, he considers the report to be positive. The decline in volumes is attributed to negative calendar effects, such as the Easter holidays in April this year, in contrast to March of the previous year, as well as one less day in February. Net sales increased by 12.4 percent in the quarter, but without considering the exchange rate effect, the increase would have been 2.2 percent.
On the other hand, Marco Antonio Montañez, director of analysis and strategy at Vector Casa de Bolsa, rated the report as neutral, with figures slightly below consensus and his estimates. Despite this, he does not rule out a sideways to moderately negative behavior in the stock price in the short term.
