Colombia's Grupo Exito to invest around $250 million between 2023 and 2024

BOGOTA, Sept 20 (Reuters) - Colombian retail conglomerate Grupo Exito will invest around $250 million between this year and next, largely on new stores, shopping centers and technology, the CEO said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes after Exito debuted on the New York Stock Exchange in late August, listing American Depositary Receipts (ADRs), following its listing in the Brazilian and Colombian markets.

"This year we are going to invest approximately $125 million, $100 million of that in Colombia, approximately $20 million in Uruguay and $5 million in Argentina," Exito Chief Executive Officer Carlos Mario Giraldo told reporters.

The investment plan includes expansion with new wholesale stores and "hyper" supermarkets. The company will also begin partnering with delivery application Rappi's Turbo service, which promises deliveries in less than 10 minutes.

Exito is also planning a "very important" investment in the shopping mall business, said Giraldo, adding that he was eyeing an investment in line with this year's $125 million for early 2024.

Exito's listing on international markets comes after Brazilian retailer GPA spun off around 83% of its stake in Exito through a capital reduction. That led the Colombian company to raise its float of outstanding shares to 53%, from a level of 3.4% before the operation.

"One of the great medium- and long-term objectives of this movement is for the market to give the company a fair valuation. For that, the most important step is to get foreign investors to take positions in Exito's shares," Giraldo said.

"The fact that the investor can go to three stock exchanges... is fundamental," he added.

Exito's net profit contracted 69.3% in the year's first half to 38.93 billion pesos ($9.97 million dollars), compared to the same period last year, hit by high interest rates and inflation. (1 dollar = 3.902,54 pesos) (Reporting by Nelson Bocanegra; Writing by Brendan O'Boyle; Editing by Bill Berkrot)