Annual Report 2020
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1 Cencosud Annual Report - 2020 Letter from the President Dear shareholders, It is an honor for me to be the interim replacement of my father, Horst Paulmann Kemna, creator and soul of Cencosud. Just like he taught us, we will keep his focus on Cencosud culture and the careful attention and care for details and the customer. Service, service, service. From a little restaurant to a transnational corporation, with more than 115,000 committed employees, following a path sometimes winding and no stranger to difficulties, but has been able to successfully face it with its passion, vision, and unique leadership. In that context, I present to you Cencosud's Integrated Annual Report and the Company's financial statements corresponding to the tax year 2020, as well as the challenges we had to face during this period. The year 2020 has been extremely complicated because from the very beginning we had to deal with the COVID- 19 pandemic, which is affecting virtually every person in the world and has resulted in significant changes in our daily lives. Some others, like remote working or e-commerce, already were on the horizon. However, the pandemic has accelerated their incorporation into society and these changes are here to stay. In this period, our focus was to look after the health and safety of our employees. I especially want to thank your efforts, dedication, and commitment. Without them we couldn't have kept the continuous operations of our business units and deliver essential goods to the communities we are in. While Chilean national economy shrank by 5.8% in 2020 -the biggest decrease since the crisis of 1982-, Chile had a better performance compared to her neighbor nations and, according to estimates, would be the first Latin American economy to recover. But the task of determining the actual effects of an exceptional and unprecedented pandemic is still complicated, as it caused a contraction in the growth of economies in Latin America and the Caribbean. In this challenging context, business survival is linked to the adaptability to new circumstances, where innovation is a competitive advantage that will allow businesses to create value for all stakeholders in the long term. In this regard, our omnichannel and investment in technological developments strategy, which started in 2019, allowed us to strengthen our closeness with customers while keeping the quality service that defines us through online channels. This period was a year of significant progress for Cencosud because we met our goals and established a strong financial base through the amortization of USD 881 million. Because of this important debt reduction, we got the lowest gross leverage from the last 10 years, by reaching a 3.39 indicator. The previously stated was demonstrated in the change of Fitch Ratings and Moody's risk assessment, who ratified the stable trend of the outlook. Along with the improvement in the rating, I would like to highlight the following achievements. In the 2020 tax year we closed with a 23.1% growth in Adjusted EBITDA, compared to 2019. On the other hand, we have the decision to introduce Cencosud's Brazilian subsidiary on the stock exchange, with the sale of a minority stake to raise around USD 300 million to finance organic growth and the expansion of the Supermarket operation in Brazil. In addition, I would like to emphasize that the Company achieved historical growths in penetration in the e- commerce channel (including own sales and those made through our strategic partner Cornershop) during the fourth quarter of 2020, compared to the same period of 2019. In Supermarkets, we closed with a 279% increase, in Department Stores with a 187% increase, and in Home Improvement with a 125% increase. In January of 2021 we announced Cencosud's investment plan for the next three years. This CAPEX plan considers an estimated amount of USD 1.8 billion, which will be destined to the construction and refurbishment of 100% of the stores, the remodeling of eight shopping centers and the construction of Shopping Centers. In addition, we Cencosud Annual Report - 2020 have the launch of the proximity format in Supermarkets, Spid35, with delivery times of less than 35 minutes through a new app. This new service, which is unique in Latin America -which will be available in the five countries where we operate-, will include physical stores at a later stage. One of Cencosud's priorities is a growth that integrates Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance (ESG) variables. In this sense, being part of the main leading indexes in this area confirms that we are moving in the right direction. Here I would like to highlight that in January 2021 Cencosud and Cencosud Shopping were selected to be part of the S&P IPSA ESG Tilted Index, composed of 26 Chilean companies and designed to offer investors a specific exposure to local companies that meet ESG management criteria. In this line of commitment with sustainability, our Home Improvement subsidiary, EASY, obtained the "Giro Limpio" seal from the Chilean Energy Efficiency Agency, which certifies the efforts made by freight transportation companies. Also relevant was the "Blue Seal" award to Jumbo from The National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service of Chile, which certifies, recognizes and distinguishes companies that promote the responsible extraction and consumption of seafood products. Jumbo is the first and only supermarket in the country to obtain the Blue Seal in all of its stores. I would like to thank our strategic partners, the suppliers, who have allowed us to maintain the continuity of our supply chain in such a challenging year. In addition, I would like to emphasize that our customers continue to be at the core of our business model as they are an essential part of our raison d'être. Therefore, in our commitment to them we will continue to advance along the lines of leading the customer experience, expanding our supply and strengthening our channels. Finally, through all of the actions mentioned above, we hope to continue to provide the best investment opportunity for our shareholders, who reward us with their preference. President of Board of Directors 1 Cencosud Annual Report - 2020 Letter from the General Manager Dear shareholders, When we presented our 2019 Integrated Annual Report last year, we were already stating that the COVID-19 pandemic posed a new reality to which Cencosud sought to adapt. One year later, by making available to you the document that accounts for our performance in the fiscal year 2020, it is clear to us how profound and lasting that change has been for all of us. The isolation measures that authorities in Chile and the world adopted to contain the spread of the virus had strong consequences not only at the economic level - with the shutdown of activities in various industries - but also in people's daily lives, as expected. From that moment on, it became necessary to adapt virtually everything: the way we worked, the children's lessons, enabling online support for certain face-to-face services and, as far as we are concerned, the way we were going to buy. The pandemic has tested the flexibility of our organization. We know that it has not been an easy period. This stage has involved a special disposition of the entire team to carry out an excellent job. For that reason, I want to thank and acknowledge each of the people who are part of this Company -in the five countries where it is present- for their devotions, for the professionalism with which they assumed the enormous responsibility of continuing to deliver the best to our customers and for the concern shown for not neglecting the quality of the products we offer or the service we provide. Although in this new scenario many of us had to work remotely, this did not prevent us from demonstrating the strong commitment of the entire team. We would like to extend our thanks to all our suppliers, who were crucial in responding promptly to the demands of the circumstances we have faced since March of the last year. And while the pandemic has been a major hardship for the country, Cencosud dealt with these circumstances as an opportunity to deepen the necessary changes to compete in a new scenario. Within this framework, we have demonstrated not only that we can be a flexible Company despite our size, but also that we have an executive team and a Board of Directors that know how to prioritize and can make quick and efficient decisions, even if they are complex. One of those difficult decisions, for instance, was the closure of the Department Stores business in Peru and Johnson in Chile. Part of the strategy, initiated in 2019, focused on omnichannel and investment in technological developments allowed us to address the demand for online sales, achieving closer proximity to our customers. Performance in 2020 In this context, in 2020 the Company's revenues (excluding IAS29) increased 5.9%, mainly explained by double- digit growth in Chile and to a lesser extent Peru, Argentina and Colombia, partially offset by the devaluation of the Brazilian real and the Argentine peso against the Chilean peso during the year. The e-commerce channel's own sales hit a record during the period growing significantly, in which features Supermarkets with an increase of 278.6%, followed by Department Stores with a rise of 186.5% and Home Improvement with an advancement of 125.1%. Meanwhile, the comparable Adjusted EBITDA (excludingIAS29 and non-recurring effects) increased 23.1% versus 2019, as a result of improved performance in Chile, Brazil and Colombia. The profit for the period (also excluding IAS29) was CLP 175,203 million, a decrease compared to the previous year.