On the other hand, the company grew in this segment by 9.1 per cent in Argentina, its largest home improvement market. In local currency the increase was much greater, namely 23.2 per cent; and finally, same store sales rose by 23.4 per cent. The problem for Cencosud is the continued devaluation of the Argentine peso (ARS) compared to the Chilean peso (CLP).
The volume of business in Colombia, which is much smaller with CLP 15.062 bn, shrank in the second quarter, namely by 4.2 per cent in CLP and by 5.6 per cent in local currency, which the company reports as reflecting the contraction in consumption influenced by the tax reform and a high baseline effect.