Santiago, Feb 17 - Chilean retail group Cencosud will invest $500 million this year and $3 billion over five years to double sales, its general director Laurence Golborne told a local newspaper on Sunday.
Cencosud, which is starting operations in Colombia this year, already has stores in Chile, Argentina, Brazil and Peru.
Santiago-based Cencosud runs supermarkets, department stores and other stores that sell housewares and construction materials. It also owns shopping and entertainment centers.
"We are talking about levels around $500 million," for 2008, Golborne told the newspaper El Mercurio.
"Cencosud generates EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) of $900 million, of which about $600 million a year will be invested," he said.
For this year, Cencosud has projected sales of about $10.3 billion.
"In five years we will invest about $3 billion and at that rate we could double our sales during the same period," said Golborne.