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By Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Sarah Morland
MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Walmart's Mexico and Central America unit reported a 1.4% bump in its fourth-quarter net profit on Thursday, coming in at 15.2 billion Mexican pesos ($729 million), slightly below analysts' forecasts as its general expenses jumped some 15%.
Analysts polled by LSEG had forecast profits for the retail chain, known as Walmex, at some 16.55 billion pesos.
Net sales for the quarter were up 8.3% from the previous year to reach 272.88 billion pesos, from revenues that landed in line with analysts forecasts.
Core earnings, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), for the quarter rose 2.5% to 27.38 billion pesos, slightly below an LSEG estimate of 28.97 billion pesos.
During the last three months of 2024, the company added 91 stores in Mexico and 13 in Central America, mostly discount Bodega Aurrera stores and six Walmart Supercenters.
Same-store sales increased 4.3% in Mexico and 3.1% in Central America during the quarter, while its gross merchandise value in e-commerce in Mexico grew 20%.
The company noted in a conference call that it had expanded its offering of licensed brand products in its Supercenters, including Mickey Mouse, Harry Potter and Hello Kitty, with "great success."
Walmex also said it had in January challenged a 93.4 million peso fine it was ordered to pay in December, when Mexico's Cofece antitrust watchdog accused it of engaging in a monopolistic practice related to its suppliers.
"Until the...lawsuit is resolved, Walmex's subsidiary will continue to work collaboratively with its suppliers to ensure business continuity, in compliance with Cofece's ruling," Walmex said in the earnings statement.
Cofece said in December it could also fine Walmex up to 8% of its income if it does not comply with its resolution prohibiting it from engaging in certain conduct deemed illegal.
In the conference call, the company also announced an 8.8 billion peso share buyback this year, as it looks to return value to its stockholders, and said that it was working on and reviewing efficiencies across its entire structure.
"I feel good about the business overall," the unit's CEO Ignacio Caride said in the call. "As we move into 2025 we remain optimistic. We are aware of the challenges that lie ahead but we are confident in our ability to navigate through them."
($1 = 20.8829 Mexican pesos at end-December)
(This story has been refiled to fix the spelling of 'billion' in paragraph 11)
(Reporting by Aida Pelaez-Fernandez and Sarah Morland; Editing by Kylie Madry, Alistair Bell and Sam Holmes)