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Mexico / Bloomberg
Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB, a bright spot for its struggling US-based parent company, will benefit this year as a weak peso spurs an increase in remittances while inflation remains in check, Chief Financial Officer Pedro Farah said.
Latin America’s biggest retailer also plans to invest more in e-commerce and sell non-core businesses such as its Suburbia apparel unit as soon as this year, Farah said in an interview, his first since taking the CFO post in June.
“I am very positive about this year,†Farah, said at Walmex’s headquarters in Mexico City. “We are a bit of an island in the midst of a lot of instability.”
Mexico’s retail sector enjoyed a resurgence last year thanks to slower inflation and growing remittances, as a cheaper peso enticed workers living abroad to send more money home. Same-store sales for Walmex, which already boasts more stores than any Wal-Mart unit outside the U.S., grew 6.4 percent last year, the most since 2006.
While parent Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, has been struggling in international markets, including China and the UK, executives have singled out Mexico as an area of growth. International business accounts for about 28 percent of the company’s almost $500 billion in annual
revenue.