Brazilian retailer Casas Bahia has confirmed the closure of 298 stores after posting a net loss of 10.1 billion reais between May and June 2026.
The company's financial report for the second quarter of 2026 showed that losses expanded 18-fold compared to the same period in 2025, when the retailer recorded a loss of approximately 555 million reais.
The publication followed two consecutive delays by the retail giant. Originally scheduled for August 12, the financial results were initially postponed to August 14 before being delayed again and released early on Sunday, August 16.
Financial results and operational downsizing
The surge in quarterly losses comes after a difficult period for the company. Throughout 2025, Casas Bahia reported total losses of 3 billion reais, followed by a negative accounting result of 1.06 billion reais in the first quarter of 2026.
Following the first-quarter release, chief executive officer Renato Franklin described the macroeconomic environment as challenging. He stated at the time that the retailer would take a more conservative approach during 2026 regarding credit granting, risk management, and purchases from suppliers.
Casas Bahia is one of Brazil's largest retail chains, specializing in household appliances, consumer electronics, and furniture. Headquartered in São Caetano do Sul, the company operates hundreds of physical stores alongside a major e-commerce network across the country.
In its financial documents, Casas Bahia attributed the recent accounting results to the impact of an operational resizing plan. The company confirmed that this restructuring included closing 298 stores to respond to sector challenges.
Transformation plan and financial restructuring
The retailer stated that negative working capital, tight credit conditions, and constrained consumer spending required a structural transformation. It identified the second phase of its transformation plan as the necessary response to those pressures.
The company stated in its balance sheet that faced with a more challenging macroeconomic and credit environment, it was moving into phase two of its transformation plan. It noted that the operational adjustments affected net results through non-recurring accounting charges of 9.1 billion reais, which had no immediate cash impact during the quarter.
Casas Bahia stated that closing unprofitable locations would increase the average performance of its remaining store network by 1.4 percentage points. It added that the average share of credit installment plans in remaining stores would increase by 5.0 to 6.0 percentage points.
Store credit installment plans, known in Brazil as carnês, are a traditional consumer financing mechanism. They allow lower and middle-income shoppers to purchase household goods through fixed monthly payments without requiring a standard credit card.
The new phase of the restructuring plan also includes reorienting digital channels, adjusting inventory and working capital, and making structural reductions in costs, expenses, and investments. The company noted that it is managing liquidity, reducing financial costs, exploring capital structure options, and considering potential additional steps, including a possible new extrajudicial recovery or formal judicial recovery.
Legal history and union reactions
The financial difficulty follows previous court-approved debt reorganization. In April 2024, Casas Bahia filed for extrajudicial recovery for debts totaling 4.1 billion reais. The 1st Bankruptcy and Judicial Recovery Court of São Paulo approved the plan two months later after securing agreement from all affected debt holders.
Under Brazilian law, extrajudicial recovery allows a company to negotiate a debt restructuring agreement with creditors before presenting it to a court for approval. Judicial recovery, by contrast, involves a broader court-supervised reorganization process.
Prior to the balance sheet release, retail employee representatives expressed alarm over the store closures. The Union of Commercial Employees of Osasco and Region, known as Secor, stated that it was deeply concerned by the plan to close nearly 300 stores and would take all necessary measures to protect worker rights.
Secor president Luciano Pereira Leite said in a statement that retail workers must not bear the losses resulting from business decisions made without proper dialogue and transparency.
The union reported that workers were caught by surprise and are waiting for detailed information regarding termination procedures, severance pay, release of the mandatory severance fund, unemployment insurance, and other protections under labor law and collective bargaining agreements.
In Brazil, terminated workers are entitled to statutory severance benefits, including access to the Length-of-Service Guarantee Fund, a mandatory state-administered employment reserve system known as FGTS.
