Sonae increases profits to 75 million in a semester of higher investment – Business – Jornal de Negócios

Sonae achieved a net profit payable to shareholders of 75 million euros in the first half of this year, 14% more than it received in the same period last year.“driven by the improvement in EBITDA, due to the gains of shares and business performance, which countered the increase in depreciation due to the strong investment made, financial costs and taxes”, explains the group led by Claudia Azevedo, this Tuesday, July 30th, in a statement sent to the Securities Market Commission (CMVM).

Consolidated EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) improved by 18.2% to 410 million euross, reflecting “the strong performance of the retail business and the increase in the contribution of products using the equity method, especially from Nos”, with turnover recording a year-on-year increase of 11.4%, to approximately 4.3 thousand million euros, “driven by the growth of MC and Worten, who consolidated their leadership positions in the Portuguese market, and by the merger of Musti”, reveals Sonae.

The CEO emphasizes the “amazing performances” of the group’s core businesses

In summary, “in the first six months of 2024, our main businesses continued to present exceptional performances”, concludes Claudia Azevedo, in the message accompanying the presentation of the group’s accounts for the first half of this year.

The CEO recalled, “since the beginning of the year, Sonae has taken great steps in its growth and internationalization efforts, investing more than a billion euros in three new businesses”, with a consolidated investment exceeding 1.3 thousand million euros in the last 12 months. , with investment in the first half of 2024 “reaching a value exceeding 966 million euros”, emphasizes the group based in Maia.

“In the retail sector, we expanded our portfolio to the pet sector in the Nordics through controlling investment in Musti and, in the third quarter, MC completed the merger between Arenal and Druni, creating the leading market in health, beauty and wellness. – section bench in the Iberian Peninsula”, emphasized Claudia Azevedo, also pointing out, “in the food innovation sector, Sparkfood decided to acquire a majority in BCF Life Sciences, in France, which ‘ taking another important step in the development of this food innovation’.

Control (81%) of Musti represented an investment of about 700 million euros, and 160.5 million euros were invested in the purchase of 89.1% of BCF Life Sciences.

And this month, your MC closed the transaction for the combination of Druni and Arenal, a deal announced last June, after he received a 50% share in Druni in exchange for his 60% share in Arenal, together with an investment of around 148. million euros and a conditional amount of up to 36 million euros to be paid in 2025 and 2026.

And what does Sonae’s director expect for the second half of 2024? “I have full confidence in our ability to drive innovation and growth to improve the living conditions of a growing number of families in the various areas where we operate. We will continue to support our people and our companies, making sure they have the resources they need. to improve its current performance, while at the same time investing in the future to ensure the creation of long-term value for all our ‘stakeholders'”, pointed out sister Paulo Azevedo, chairman of the group.

Dona do Continente earns 3.3 billion

In food retail, MC “continued to face a strong and challenging competitive environment in the Portuguese food sector”, as in the first half of the year it had recorded year-on-year growth in turnover of 7.8 % to 3.3 billion euros, “led by the best performance in the food sector and the health, wellness and beauty sector”.

In terms of profitability, the owner of Continente “maintained a consistent image in the past quarters with the implementation of effective cost control measures” and with an underlying EBITDA of 305 million euros in the first half of this year, 26 million more than in the same period. last year, and with a margin of 9.3% (0.1 points more year on year).

In the first six months of this year, MC opened 43 stores, including 10 stores near Continente Bom Dia, after investing 123 million euros in this period (8% more than a year ago ), “an amount that includes investment in the de. stores and continuous improvements in IT and logistics platforms”.

Sales increase worse 6.5% as iServices opens 16 more stores

In electronic retail, Sonae also clarifies that Worten “continued to face a very competitive market”, but that it “consolidated its leadership position both ‘offline’ and online” , with turnover growing 6.5% in year-on-year terms to 593 million. euros in the first half of 2024.

Sonae clarifies that iServices “has also contributed significantly to this sales performance,” continuing to invest in its international expansion, namely in Spain, France and Belgium, from after opening 16 new stores between January and June, ten of which are external. Portugal.

Sierra contributed 26 million to Sonae’s EBITDA

In the real estate sector, Sierra’s net profit increased by 17.2% to 45 million euros in the first six months of this year, “driven mainly by the effect of improved valuations in terms of indirect results, with the contribution to Sonae’s EBITDA at 26 million. “, details of the group that controls “malls” such as Colombo and NorteShopping.

Pointing out that tenant sales in its portfolio of shopping centers will “continue their growth trajectory”, he pointed out that “presence exceeds pre-pandemic levels and occupancy levels remain high (in addition to 0.3 points to 98, 1%)”.

Regarding Sierra’s development pipeline, he highlighted part of the sale of the Colombo office tower and the commercialization of the Viva offices in Porto.

He gives us profits by selling towers

Finally, the telecommunications branch of the group: in the consolidated accounts of Sonae, the contribution to the results of equity method Nos reached 53 million euros in the first half of this year, “led by the improvement in operational performance and the increase in a sum of 31 million euros related. to sell another series of towers to Cellnex”, he explained.

It should be noted that, last May, Nos paid 0.35 euros per share in shares related to the results of 2023, with a total payment of 67 million euros to Sonaecom.

90% of Sonae’s funding is sustainable

As announced at the beginning of this month, the Sonae Group contracted a financing activity worth 2.4 billion euros with a sustainable framework, “green” or “Linked ESG” (linked to environmental, social and corporate governance indicators).

“This value represents approximately 90% of the medium and long-term financing lines of companies fully consolidated by Sonae, among the lines that are used and available, and in the” keep ‘this value is even higher’, details of the organization, in the same statement sent to CMVM

Sonae donated 16.5 million in community support initiatives

The group which is controlled by the Azevedo family also notes that they have allocated 16.5 million euros in aid to the community in the first half of the year, 6% more than in the same period last year. last year, continuing to “pay special attention to social support for families. , providing food donations to centers across the country”, he notes.

With lifelong education and re-accreditation still “a priority for Sonae, which increased by 50% the value to be awarded in the second edition of the Sonae Education Award, which will distribute 150 thousand euros for innovative and inclusive projects” , the PRO_MOV program, led by Sonae, “has captured more participants and launched new courses to promote the re-licensing of Portuguese people for future jobs, bringing together the State, associations and more than a hundred companies”.