May. 09, 2008 Print This | Email This     

B2W Reports a 39% Growth in Gross Revenue, 50% in EBITDA and an Improvement of 32 Days on the Cash Conversion Cycle in 1Q08

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, May. 09 /PRNewswire/ --

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, May 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- B2W Companhia Global do Varejo (BOVESPA: BTOW3), a company formed from the merger between Americanas.com and Submarino, announces today its results for the 1st quarter of 2008. B2W -- Companhia Global do Varejo was formed in December of 2006, from the merger of Americanas.com and Submarino. On November 7, 2007, the merger was approved without restrictions by the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (in Portuguese, CADE), ratifying the opinions of the Secretariat of Economic Law (in Portuguese, SDE) and the Secretariat for Economy Monitoring (in Portuguese, SEAE). The financial statements were prepared and are presented in accordance with the norms issued by the Securities Exchange Commission (known locally as CVM), including the instruction CVM 469/08, as well as the Novo Mercado listing rules. Except when otherwise specified, the analyses refer to the Parent Company (Americanas.com, Submarino and Shoptime).

B2W's portfolio is comprised of the brands Americanas.com, Shoptime, Submarino, Blockbuster Online, Ingresso.com, Submarino Finance and B2W Viagens, offering over 30 product categories and services through the Internet, telesales, catalogues, TV and kiosks.


Highlights of the Period -- Gross revenue: Growth of 39% in 1Q08 In 1Q08, gross revenue hit R$ 1,029 MM, representing a growth of 39% in relation to 1Q07. -- Gross Profit: Growth of 37% in 1Q08 Gross Profit soared from R$ 159 MM in 1Q07 to R$ 218 MM in 1Q08, representing a growth of 37% and reaching Gross Margin of 30.3%. -- Operating Expenses: Drop of 140 bps in 1Q08 16.4% of net revenue, down 140 bps in 1Q08 compared with 1Q07. -- EBITDA: Growth of 50% EBITDA reached R$ 100 MM in 1Q08, up 50% in relation to the same period of the previous year. -- EBITDA Margin: Increase of 100 bps 13.9% of net revenue, growth of 100 bps in 1Q08 compared to same period in 2007. -- Cash Conversion Cycle: Improvement of 32 days In 1Q08, B2W's cash conversion cycle was 90 days against 122 days in the same period of the preceding year. -- 1Q08 Consolidated Results - Gross Revenue growth of 39% (R$1,067 MM); - EBITDA of R$104.0 MM, growth of 53%; - EBITDA Margin of 13.9%, up 120 bps. -- Submarino Finance: More than 250 thousand cards issued Submarino Card surpassed the milestone of 13% in sales in Submarino website in March. -- B2W Viagens: Growth of 155% in 1Q08 In 1Q08, Gross Bookings hit R$ 38.8 MM, representing a growth of 155% in relation to 1Q07.

For a complete version of the 1Q08 Earnings Release, access the company's website: www.b2winc.com

Conference Call and Webcast (in Portuguese - simultaneous translation into English) May 09th, 2008 11:00 a.m. (ET) 12:00 p.m. (Brasilia Time) Phone: +1 (888) 700.0802 (USA) +1 (786) 924.6977 (Other countries) Access code: B2W Replay: +55 (11) 4688.6312 Access code to Replay: 434

B2W Companhia Global do Varejo

CONTACT: Investor Relations Team, + 55 (21) 2206-6000, ri@b2winc.com

Web site: http://www.b2winc.com/