Chilean supermarket group SMU has bought a small hard-discount chain, in the same quarter that it swung to a loss. A hard-discount store sells a narrow range of goods at very low prices in a basic shop.
SMU, the company behind the Unimarc, Alvi and Super10 stores, said it began running the six Ahorra Food Depot stores on Tuesday 3 November 2026. It reported a third-quarter net loss of 5.657 billion Chilean pesos (CLP) (about US$5.7 million at 995 pesos per US dollar, the 13 November market rate).
What Happened
SMU said on Tuesday 22 September 2026 that it had asked Chile’s competition watchdog, the National Economic Prosecutor’s Office, to clear the purchase of Ahorra Food Depot’s assets. The chain had six stores in the Santiago metropolitan region.
SMU said on Friday 16 October 2026 that the watchdog had approved the deal without conditions. SMU said on Tuesday 3 November that the purchase was complete and that it had started operating the six stores.
SMU described the deal as a faster way to roll out its new hard-discount format, because the stores already trade. It said it expects no significant effect on its financial position.
Why It Matters
Revenue in the three months to 30 September 2026 rose 3.1% to CLP 710.8 billion (about US$714 million). Sales at the price-focused Alvi and Super10 stores grew 4.7%, faster than the 1.8% at Unimarc, its conventional supermarket brand.
Cheap formats earn less on each sale, so the mix cut the gross margin, the share of sales left after product costs, by 0.72 percentage points to 31.5%. EBITDA, a cash-profit measure before interest, tax and depreciation, fell 1.8% to CLP 49.7 billion (about US$50 million).
The net loss compares with a profit of CLP 32.6 billion in the same quarter of 2025. SMU said the swing came mainly from smaller gains on asset sales and higher restructuring costs.
Peru, where SMU runs 37 stores, grew fastest, with revenue up 19.2% in pesos in the quarter. For the first nine months of 2026, SMU reported a net loss of CLP 3.949 billion (about US$4.0 million).
What to Watch
Chile promulgated a tax law on Saturday 17 October 2026 that cuts the corporate tax rate from 27% to 23% by 2029. SMU expects a one-off, non-cash charge of about CLP 69 billion (about US$69 million) in the fourth quarter, because the lower rate shrinks the value of its deferred tax assets, the tax credits it expects to use later.
The first results that include the six Food Depot stores will come with SMU’s fourth-quarter report. SMU has not said how much they will add to sales.
What Is Not Known
SMU’s filing calls the plan a new hard-discount format but gives no name, no list of first stores and no spending budget. The price of the Ahorra deal is not disclosed, and we could not confirm those details with the company.
It is also unclear how many more stores SMU will convert or open in the format. Earlier coverage of the approval request is in our report on SMU’s bid for Ahorra.
More: Chile news in English, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Ahorra Food Depot?
It is a Chilean hard-discount chain of six stores in the Santiago metropolitan region. SMU bought its assets and began running the stores on 3 November 2026.
Did SMU make a profit in the third quarter of 2026?
No. SMU reported a net loss of CLP 5.657 billion (about US$5.7 million) for the quarter to 30 September 2026, against a profit of CLP 32.6 billion a year earlier.
What is a hard-discount store?
It is a basic supermarket with a narrow range of products and very low prices. The model relies on low costs and high volume rather than wide choice.
Sources: SMU S.A., management analysis of financial statements to 30 September 2026, including notices of 22 September, 16 October and 3 November 2026; Chile’s National Economic Prosecutor’s Office clearance, 16 October 2026; Law 21,850, promulgated 17 October 2026.