(Reuters) -Walmart's Mexico and Central America unit reported on Tuesday a 9% drop in its third-quarter net profit, according to a filing with the Mexican stock exchange, landing below analysts' forecasts.
Net profit for Mexico' largest retailer, which operates Walmart, Sam's Club and Bodega Aurrera stores across six countries, was 11.76 billion Mexican pesos ($641.41 million) in the three months through September, below the 13.7-billion-peso forecast of analysts polled by LSEG.
Revenues for Walmex,
as the company is known, meanwhile rose 5% year-on-year to reach 241.52 billion pesos - slightly below analysts' estimate of 244.8 billion pesos.
The quarterly results are Walmex's first under new chief executive Cristian Barrientos, who was named acting CEO on August 1 and confirmed as CEO and chair on October 7, replacing former CEO Ignacio Caride, who stepped down after fewer than two years in the role.
Barrientos in a presentation on Tuesday celebrated the company's "solid business fundamentals" while noting a volatile economic backdrop.
"Given the ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, the coming USMCA renegotiation, and volatile consumption, we are encouraged by our team's ability to execute the priorities we have defined," Barrientos said, highlighting the company's "three non-negotiable pillars" of price leadership, product availability, and the acceleration of eCommerce.
($1 = 18.3147 Mexican pesos at end-September)
(Reporting by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Sarah Morland)
