Grupo Comercial Ched Ord

Good morning to all participants, and welcome to Grupo Comercial Chederowa's fourth quarter 2024 conference call. Participating in the conference call today is Mr. Jose Antonio Chederowa, CEO of Grupo Comercial Chederowa, Mr. Carlos Smith, CEO of the company, Humberto Tafolle, CFO, and Arturo Velasquez, IRO for the company. We will begin the call with initial comments on Grupo Comercial Chedrawi, fourth quarter financial results by the company's CEO, Mr. Jose Antonio Chedrawi.

Thank you. You may begin.

Good morning to all, and welcome to our presentation of Grupo Comercial Chedrawi's fourth quarter 2024 results. I will begin by proudly thanking all of our employees for their exceptional work, unwavering dedication and passion for successfully driving our three core strategic pillars, lowest price, best assortment by store, and best customer experience. Their relentless commitment has been instrumental in continuing to grow market share in Mexico and the El Super and Fiesta Mart brands in the U.S. In 2024, our same store sales in Mexico outperformed Lantar, which clearly reflects the hard work and determination of our entire team. At Smart and Final, we launched a new pricing strategy for perishables, which combined with our impactful marketing campaign launched in second quarter 24, are designed to strengthen the banner's position as a primary shopping destination for our customers and increase our customer base. This approach led to a 2% increase in customer count in the fourth quarter of 2024. Our CapEx investment in 2024, which represented 4.1% of sales, showcases our unwavering commitment to long-term, organic growth both in Mexico and the U.S. At the same time, we are actively seeking accretive growth opportunities through strategic M&A initiatives. Furthermore, as shared in our financial release, we are excited to announce that for the second consecutive year, our Board of Directors will consider approving an extraordinary dividend to our stockholders in 2025. This reflects our strong cash generation during 2024 and underscores our strong financial foundation. Now, to start our presentation, please turn to slide four, where I will highlight key achievements of the fourth quarter. Consolidated sales saw double-digit growth driven by positive trends across all businesses. Retail Mexico same-store sales growth of 2.9% for the fourth quarter of 2024 surpassed and taxed results for the 18th consecutive quarter. Chedraui USA same-store sales in the fourth quarter of 2024 posted an increase of 0.8% in dollar terms.