(March 28): Wal-Mart de Mexico SAB, the local unit of the US retail giant, plans to invest US$6 billion (RM26.56 billion) this year in its Mexico operations to add more locations and robotic logistics hubs, escalating its bet on the market despite economic challenges and a brewing US trade conflict.

The expansion will create 5,500 jobs, chief executive officer Ignacio Caride said at Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum’s daily news conference just minutes before heading to the company´s annual meeting with investors. The announcement is a boon for Sheinbaum, who is trying to fend off the threat of tariffs and a pullback in government spending.

While the company didn’t offer immediate details, the spending appears to be a significant increase from previous years. Walmex, as the publicly traded company is known, had a record US$1.9 billion in capital expenditures in 2024 across all of its territory, which includes Central America. Bentonville, Arkansas-based Walmart owns about 70% of the Mexico City-based retailer, which generates about 7.6% of the US parent company’s total sales.

Walmex will use the funds to open more stores under the Bodega Aurrera, Sam’s Club, Walmart Supercenter and Walmart Express brands, Caride said. The company has just over 3,200 stores in the Mexico, where competitors including Fomento Economico Mexicano SAB and Coppel SA have also been in expansion mode in a market where shoppers still flock to physical stores. 

Shares of Walmex rose 2.3% to 57.68 pesos (RM12.70) at 10.28am in Mexico City. The shares have gained 5% this year. 

Caride noted that 83% of products sold in the company’s Mexican stores are made in Mexico. That should limit the impact of any tariffs Sheinbaum applies to goods imported from the US. The president said on Thursday she would announce Mexico’s response to tariffs from the US after April 2, when President Donald Trump has said he plans to unveil his full plan for trade levies.

Walmex will open two distribution centers in the central region of Bajío and the state of Tlaxcala, the company said. Both will have robotics and artificial intelligence components to make them more efficient, Caride said. There are other 21 other Walmex distribution centres in the country.

The company said it would announce its capital expenditure plans for Central America later on Thursday.

With a market value of US$49 billion, Walmex is one of Mexico’s largest companies and employers. It has a local staff of more than 200,000 people. Last year, its sales rose 8.1% while its net income grew by 4.3% from 2023.

Walmex’s Bait MVNO phone business is now the main customer of Altán Redes, the telecommunications companycontrolled by the Mexican government, Caride said.

Bait ended 2024 with 18.3 million active users. Its growth has caught the eye of market leader América Movil, prompting its CEO Daniel Hajj to acknowledge the Walmex brand as a “strong competitor” in Mexico during an analyst call in February. Owner and billionaire Carlos Slim Helú said during a recent press conference that the government was giving a “very cheap” price to Bait to use its network.

Walmex executives, including President and CEO of Walmart International Kathryn McLay, were among the first to meet Sheinbaum in June of last year following her election. She was inaugurated in October. 

In December, Mexican antitrust commission Cofece slapped a symbolic fine of less than US$5 million on Walmex following a four-year probe that found the company violated antitrust rules. The fine is being contested by Walmex.

Walmex’s announcement comes on the same week that Coke bottler Arca Continental SAB disclosed it was investing a record US$895 million in 2025, with half of that amount going into its Mexican operation. Another quarter will be used for its US business.

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