Itaú BBA on Drugstores: HYPE’s WK Shifts – Limited Impacts for Drugstores By Rodrigo Gastim
Hypera has recently announced its intention to temporarily scale back sales efforts in order to recalibrate inventory levels within its distribution channel, which has historically been overstocked. This involves restructuring its working capital, aiming to reduce receivables by ~56 days by the end of 2025. Our HC team has published an in-depth report on the implications for HYPE (link here). In this note, we shift our focus to the impact on the drugstore chains. On balance, minimal practical impacts for RADL, PNVL, and PGMN. The supplier base for these drugstores is highly fragmented, with their top-3 suppliers contributing to less than 10-15% of total COGS, according to our estimates. Given the competitive nature of the market, suppliers face significant challenges in altering commercial terms without risking a loss of market share. While a reduction in receivables for HYPE may translate to shorter payment terms for drugstores, this should be counterbalanced by an improvement in inventory turnover (reduced days), thus maintaining equilibrium. Regarding LT discount structures, the impact appears neutral (typically, shorter payment terms mean higher discounts, while lower inventory levels mean the opposite). For HYPE, we view this as a ‘shift of value’ from the P&L to the cash flow. Although this adjustment may temporarily impact ST discounts for drugstores (due to reduced sales), we anticipate it to be a one-time recalibration, with commercial conditions normalizing once the significant adjustment – likely to affect HYPE’s P&L for a while – has been implemented.
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