Felipe Cassimiro de Freitas's questions to ASAI leadership • Q4 2023
Question
Inquired about the specific drivers for the gross margin drop in the fourth quarter and asked about any initiatives to reduce CapEx per store over the next two years.
Answer
The gross margin drop was attributed to a strategic decision to invest in competitive advantages, funded by operational efficiencies and expense reductions. It was also impacted by the mix of new stores opened in late 2022. Regarding CapEx, there are ongoing initiatives to reduce it. The higher costs seen previously were partly due to the complexity of converting multi-level hypermarkets, which is not typical for new organic stores. Future CapEx will vary depending on store size and complexity, but the focus is on ROIC.