Almacenes Éxito S.A. (Grupo Éxito)

What it is

Headquartered in Envigado, just outside Medellín, Grupo Éxito is a South American retail group founded in 1949 by Gustavo Toro Quintero, who opened a four-square-metre textile stall on a Medellín street and named it for the Spanish word for “success.” It has since grown into the largest supermarket operator in Colombia.

Its store banners include Éxito and Carulla in Colombia, Disco, Devoto, and Géant in Uruguay, and Libertad in Argentina, with complementary businesses in real estate through Viva Malls and a loyalty programme called Puntos Colombia. Colombia generates 74% of consolidated revenues; Uruguay and Argentina together add the remaining 26%, delivering COP 5.6 trillion (USD ~1.6 billion) in 2024.

Who owns it

In early 2024, Salvadoran conglomerate Grupo Calleja completed the acquisition of a controlling stake in Grupo Éxito, completing the purchase of Casino Group’s 47.36% interest and launching successful public takeover bids in both Colombia and the United States. The Calleja family ended up controlling 86.84% of the company’s share capital — leaving a public float of roughly 13%.

Grupo Calleja is the dominant supermarket chain in El Salvador, operating 111 stores under the Super Selectos brand, with a domestic market share near 60%. The acquisition — one of Latin America’s largest retail deals of that year — cost approximately USD 1.17 billion in cash.

Who runs it

Carlos Calleja Hakker, the Salvadoran businessman whose family owns Grupo Calleja, was named President of Grupo Éxito in March 2024 following the takeover. The group’s CFO role is held by Fernando Carbajal Flores, Vice-President of Finance.

Colombia’s day-to-day operations have been led since 2006 by General Manager Carlos Mario Giraldo Moreno, whose departure is scheduled for 30 June 2026 after more than 18 years; he will be replaced by Juan Lucas Vega Palacio, selected through an internal succession process. Vega, currently Vice-President of Real Estate, oversaw Viva Malls’ growth to more than 807,000 square metres of leasable area at near-full occupancy.

The money, in plain words

In 2024, Grupo Éxito collected COP 21.9 trillion (USD ~6.4 billion) in revenues — a 6% gain on 2023 — and kept COP 54,786 million (USD ~16 million) as net profit after all costs and taxes. That means the company retained less than a quarter of one cent of profit from every peso of sales — a net margin of just 0.25% — thin even by grocery-retail standards, which typically run 1–3% (our calculation).

The operating cash engine — measured as earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (recurring EBITDA) — came in at COP 1.6 trillion (US$465 mn), a margin of 7.4%, growing 2% versus the prior year. The turnaround accelerated dramatically in 2025: full-year net profit hit COP 592,108 million (USD ~172 million) — more than ten times the 2024 figure — driven by improved operations in Colombia and Uruguay, fewer one-off costs, and lower financial charges.

The real estate arm — 33 shopping centres operating at 98% occupancy — is a hidden engine, with recurring rental revenues growing 10.7%; Viva Malls has become Colombia’s leading mall operator. Omnichannel sales (online plus direct-delivery orders) grew meaningfully and, in Colombia, already represent 14.7% of total sales.

What it is doing now

In a structural simplification, Almacenes Éxito completed its exit from the New York Stock Exchange in January 2025, having filed a Form 25 with US regulators in December 2024. The move was framed as concentrating the float in Colombia — the company’s natural market — to improve share liquidity for domestic investors.

The new owner has also launched a three-to-four-year plan to convert roughly 150 underperforming stores into premium formats — chiefly the upscale Carulla banner — requiring an investment of around COP 560 billion (US$163 mn) (approximately USD 163 million), starting in Bogotá and Medellín. By end-2024, 26 stores had already been converted, and their sales grew 12%.

What to watch

• Margin recovery: The 2025 net profit surge to COP ~590 billion looks transformational; whether that pace continues into 2026 — or partly reflects one-off cost gains — is the central question for investors.
• Store reconversion execution: The plan to upgrade ~150 stores to premium formats targets better margins through higher-value products and sharper customer segmentation, but it comes while traditional hypermarket sales remain under pressure.
• Leadership change: Carlos Mario Giraldo’s scheduled exit on 30 June 2026, after 18 years, closes the chapter that turned Éxito into a regional group; how his successor manages the real estate and retail arms simultaneously will matter.
• Float and liquidity: The public float shrank from 53% to roughly 13.5% after the Calleja takeover, making the stock harder to trade. Any further stake consolidation — or an eventual full delisting — remains a live possibility.
• Argentina exposure: Argentina is classified as a hyperinflationary economy, which distorts reported numbers; the unit’s recurring EBITDA margin was -2.1% in 2024.

This is news, not investment advice.