Brazilian retail sector restructuring and financial shifts

The Brazilian retail sector has undergone significant restructuring and financial shifts. Grupo Mateus implemented a major operational reorganization between January and March 2026, closing 28 stores and reducing its workforce by 6,673 employees—a reduction of over 13% of its total staff—primarily in the North and Northeast regions. Despite these cuts, the company reported a net profit of R$ 236.8 million for the second quarter of 2026, though this represented a 39.3% decrease compared to the previous year due to rising costs and financial expenses.

Simultaneously, Americanas, which is under judicial recovery, has progressed with the sale of assets from the Hortifruti Natural da Terra chain. Following approval from the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (Cade), the company completed the first stage of selling ten loss-making stores in São Paulo to Oba Hortifruti for a total of R$ 69.3 million. The initial closing involved three stores for R$ 3.5 million, with the remaining balance to be paid in 24 monthly installments adjusted by the CDI rate. These funds are intended for the extraordinary amortization of Americanas’ debentures.

In its second-quarter 2026 financial results, Americanas reported a net loss of R$ 274 million, an increase from the R$ 98 million loss in the same period the previous year. Adjusted EBITDA fell 51.5% to R$ 145 million, while net revenue decreased 1.7% to R$ 3.3 billion. Management noted improvements in expense management and online sales from physical store inventory despite the losses.