The group, which has businesses in sectors ranging from retail to telecommunications, made a net profit of 132 million euros ($139.74 million) in the three months to December 31, after recording 142 million euros of exceptional capital gains, mainly from the sale of assets.
Margin pressure due to rising inflation and energy costs led to a 16% drop in net profit for Sonae MC, which operates around 300 supermarkets and supermarkets, to €56m, despite a 14% increase in sales, which amounted to €1.68bn.
Sunai said food prices rose 19.5 percent in the first quarter.
“To avoid further straining family budgets, our retail businesses have taken some of the inflationary pressure at the expense of their own profitability,” CEO Claudia Azevedo said in a statement.
Underlying consolidated earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) rose 4.9% to €195 million in the first quarter. However, the underlying EBITDA margin — a key measure of profitability — fell to 8.7% from 9.3% a year earlier.
($1 = 0.9446 euros)
