Monterrey, Mexico, April 26, 2024 — Fomento Económico Mexicano, S.A.B. de C.V. (“FEMSA”) (NYSE: FMX; BMV: FEMSAUBD, FEMSAUB) announced today its operational and financial results for the first quarter of 2024.
- FEMSA: Total Consolidated Revenues grew 11.3% compared to 1Q23.
- FEMSA Retail: Proximity Americas total Revenues increased 15.1% versus 1Q23.
- DIGITAL: Spin by OXXO had 7.4 million active users while Spin Premia had 21.7 million active loyalty users and an average tender of 35.1%.
- COCA-COLA FEMSA: Total volume and revenues grew 7.3% and 11.2%, respectively against 1Q23.
José Antonio Fernandez Carbajal, FEMSA’s Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“Our first quarter results showed we are carrying the positive momentum from last year, into 2024. The majority of our operations, including the two that contribute most to our results, delivered excellent numbers across the board. Proximity achieved double-digit growth in top-line and operating income, driven by strong and balanced same-store sales growth, healthy new-store expansion, and good expense control. For its part, Coca-Cola FEMSA delivered a potent set of numbers across its own income statement, driven by strong volume and revenue growth in its major markets.
Digital@FEMSA continued to add users and advance towards its ecosystem objectives, and we also saw good progress at Valora and OXXO Gas. The one operation that is facing strong headwinds is Health, where we continue to navigate a tough competitive environment in Mexico, and a rapidly evolving institutional environment in Colombia. Our team is well advanced in adjusting the strategy to overcome those challenges, and we are confident the trends will improve and eventually converge with the positive dynamics we see elsewhere in our Company.
On the capital allocation front, during the quarter our shareholders approved several measures linked to our capital allocation framework, such as raising our ordinary dividend, approving a special dividend for this year, and doubling our buyback capacity. We made progress on the execution of this capital return strategy, and we began to move toward our stated leverage objective.
In short, we hit the ground running in 2024 and we are hard at work advancing on every element of our strategy, as we continue to pursue and capture the significant opportunities before us. I am grateful to the entire FEMSA team for their extraordinary dedication.”
QUARTERLY RESULTS
Results are compared to the same period of previous year
Total revenues increased 11.3% in 1Q24 compared to 1Q23, driven by growth across most of our business units.
Gross profit increased 10.9%. Gross margin decreased 20 basis points, mainly reflecting margin contractions in FEMSA’s Health and Fuel operations. This was partially offset by margin expansions in the Proximity Americas, Coca-Cola Femsa, and Proximity Europe divisions.
Income from operations increased 14.4%. The consolidated operating margin was 8.3% as a percentage of total sales, mainly explained by a margin expansion in the Proximity Europe division and stable margins of Coca-Cola FEMSA.
Our effective income tax rate was 36.0% in 1Q24 compared to 28.7% in 1Q23. Our income tax provision was Ps. 3,267 million in 1Q24.
Net consolidated income was Ps. 5,884 million, reflecting: i) a challenging comparative base from the first quarter of 2023, which included a gain of Ps. 40,606 million from the reclassification of FEMSA’s investment in Heineken to discontinued operations, ii) lower interest income of Ps. 2,845 million compared to Ps. 8,500 million in 1Q23 attributable to a gain from the purchase of debt in 1Q23 of US$1.7 billion, which was not repeated in 1Q24; and iii) a higher interest expense amounting to Ps. 4,716 million stemming from the acquisition of financial derivatives, partially compensated by a reduction in interest rates associated with debt prepayment. This was partially offset by a lower non-cash foreign exchange loss of Ps. 1,104 million resulting from a decrease in our cash position in dollars compared to the period ended in 2023.
Net majority income was Ps. 0.82 per FEMSA Unit[ and US$0.49 per FEMSA ADS.
Capital expenditures amounted to Ps. 7,371 million, driven by ongoing investment initiatives across our business units aimed at improving our productivity, efficiency, and competitiveness.
RECENT DEVELOPMENTS
- On March 15, 2024, FEMSA announced that, consistent with its capital allocation framework and commitment to enhance capital returns to shareholders, it has entered into a derivative instrument known as an accelerated share repurchase (“ASR”) agreement with a financial institution in the United States of America, to repurchase the Company’s shares through the acquisition of American Depositary Shares (“ADS”). Under the terms of the ASR agreement, FEMSA has agreed to repurchase from such financial institution an aggregate amount of USD $400 million of its ADS. The ASR contemplates an initial delivery of approximately 20% of the ADS on or about March 19, 2024. The total number of ADS ultimately repurchased under the ASR agreement will be based on the daily volume-weighted average price of the Company’s ADS during the term of the agreement, subject to certain limitations. The final settlement of the ASR agreement is expected to be completed no later than the third quarter of 2024.
- On March 22, 2024, FEMSA announced that it held its Annual Shareholders’ Meeting today (“the Shareholders’ Meeting”), during which the shareholders approved the consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2023, the 2023 CEO’s annual report and the opinion of the Board of Directors for the year 2023. The Annual Shareholders’ Meeting elected the members of the board of directors and the members of each of the Audit Committee, the Corporate Practices and Nominations Committee and the Operations and Strategy Committee of the Board for 2024. In line with our goal of setting the standard for corporate governance best practices, the shareholders’ meeting elected Elane Stock and Olga Gonzalez Aponte as new independent directors. With these additions, our board of directors has 46% representation of independent directors, and 40% participation of women on the board. The list of the elected directors can be found in the link: https://femsa.gcs-web.com/corporate-governance/board-of-directors The Annual Shareholders’ Meeting declared and approved the payment of an ordinary cash dividend of Ps. 0.9161 per each Series “D” share and Ps. 0.7329 per each Series “B” share, which amounts to Ps. 4.3973 per “BD” Unit (BMV: FEMSAUBD) or Ps. 43.973 per ADS (NYSE: FMX), and Ps. 3.6645 per “B” Unit (BMV: FEMSAUB), to be paid in four equal installments, payable on April 18, July 18, October 17 of 2024 and January 16 of 2025. Additionally, the Annual Shareholders’ Meeting declared and approved the payment of an extraordinary cash dividend of Ps. 0.6417 per each Series “D” share and Ps. 0.5134 per each Series “B” share, which amounts to Ps. 3.0802 per “BD” Unit (BMV: FEMSAUBD) or Ps. 30.8020 per ADS (NYSE: FMX), and Ps. 2.5670 per “B” Unit (BMV: FEMSAUB), to be paid in four equal installments, payable on April 18, July 18, October 17 of 2024 and January 16 of 2025. For additional information, please refer to the Summary of Resolutions in the Shareholders Meeting section of our corporate website at: https://femsa.gcsweb.com/shareholder-meeting-information.
- On April 23, 2024, FEMSA announced that it had filed its annual report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023, with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and its annual report, for the same period, with the Comisión Nacional Bancaria y de Valores (Mexican Banking and Securities Commission) and the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores (Mexican Stock Exchange). These reports are available on FEMSA’s investor relations website at http://ir.femsa.com.
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ABOUT FEMSA
FEMSA is a company that creates economic and social value through companies and institutions and strives to be the best employer and neighbor to the communities in which it operates. Across its business units, FEMSA has more than 350,000 employees in 18 countries. FEMSA is a member of the Dow Jones Sustainability MILA Pacific Alliance, the FTSE4Good Emerging Index and the Mexican Stock Exchange Sustainability Index: S&P/BMV Total México ESG, among other indexes that evaluate its sustainability performance.
The translations of Mexican pesos into US dollars are included solely for the convenience of the reader, using the noon buying rate for Mexican pesos as published by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York on March 31, 2024, which was 16.5574 Mexican pesos per US dollar.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This report may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning our future performance that should be considered as good faith estimates made by us. These forward-looking statements reflect management’s expectations and are based upon currently available data. Actual results are subject to future events and uncertainties, which could materially impact our actual performance.
