Mexico's Femsa reports quarterly loss, sees recovery on horizon
- A new wave of COVID cases and virus variants brought more stringent operating restrictions and again hampered customer mobility.
- Short-term uncertainty levels remain high, but we anticipate an eventual recovery to take hold on the back of broad vaccination efforts and a pandemic that gradually cedes ground to normalcy as the year advances.
MONTERREY: Femsa on Monday reported a net loss of 1.2 billion pesos ($62 million) in the fourth quarter, after a fierce new COVID-19 wave slowed sales at the Mexican conglomerate's gas stations and vast chain of Oxxo convenience stores.
"A new wave of COVID cases and virus variants brought more stringent operating restrictions and again hampered customer mobility," Femsa Chief Executive Eduardo Padilla said in the company's earnings report.
"Short-term uncertainty levels remain high, but we anticipate an eventual recovery to take hold on the back of broad vaccination efforts and a pandemic that gradually cedes ground to normalcy as the year advances," he added.
The Monterrey-based bottler of Coca-Cola products and retailer posted total revenue of 130.3 billion pesos, down 1.5% from the fourth quarter in 2019.
Revenues for Femsa's gas stations fell 31%, as stay-at-home measures reduced mobility, while sales at Oxxo convenience stores fell 2.4%, driven by declines in store traffic, the company said.
The only Femsa business that grew was its pharmacy unit, with a 15.4% revenue increase, due to sustained demand.
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