Good morning. I'm Salvador Villaseñor, in charge of Investor Relations at Walmex. Thank you for joining us today to review the results for the fourth quarter, 2023. Today, with me is Guilherme Loureiro, President and Chief Executive Officer of Walmart de México y Centroamérica, Dolores Fernández Lobbe, our Chief Merchandising Officer of Mexico, and Paulo Garcia, our CFO. At the end of this earnings webcast, we will be hosting, for the first time, a live Q&A session with management. The date of this webcast is February 15th, 2024. Today's webcast is being recorded and will be available at www.walmex.mx. Before we start, let me remind you that the content of this webcast is property of Walmart de México, S.A.B. de C.V., and it is intended for the use of the company's shareholders and the investment community.
This webcast may contain certain references concerning Walmart de México S.A.B. de C.V.'s future performance that should be considered as good-faith estimates made by the company. These references only reflect management's expectations and are based upon currently available data. Actual results are always subject to future events, risks, and uncertainties, which could materially impact the company's actual performance. Now, it is my pleasure to turn the call over to our CEO, Guilherme Loureiro.
Hello, everyone, and welcome to our fourth quarter earnings webcast. We landed another year being true to our purpose of being a people-led, tech-powered, omni-channel retailer dedicated to helping people save money and live better. We are more committed than ever with our community. I will explain later in the presentation, but I want to really highlight how proud I am with what our teams did to help other people from Acapulco, Guerrero, after Hurricane Otis. Our support was spearheaded by donations, but there was so much more done in the background that I think it is important to take a few minutes later to thank everyone involved. This was yet another good year, and it would not have been possible without the commitment and hard work of all our associates. They really make the difference.
Our 2023 results underpin our growth strategy as we broaden our reach in terms of products and service at a low cost and a price that our customers can afford and pay. As you may remember, in 2014, we committed to doubling the size of the business in terms of sales while improving returns within 10 years. We have already achieved that goal in 2023, one year ahead of our initial target, and we now aim to replicate this objective, this time faster than before. This year, our same-store sales grew 7.9% for the full year. We continued outpacing ANTAD self-serve same-store sales in Mexico for 10th consecutive year, this time, reporting 60 BPS ahead of each, and we still see space for improvement to continue accelerating our growth trends.
We continue getting closer to our customers and expanding our footprint by opening 160 stores in the year, which is the highest number since 2013. In this last quarter, we reached the milestone of our 3,000th store in Mexico. We keep on investing in our capabilities to maintain our leading omnichannel position. We reported over 20% eCommerce GMV growth, driven by On Demand, which is now available in more than 1,200 stores, and Marketplace accelerating over 40% in 2023. We continue committed to solving our clients' main pain points and helping them get access to products and services they need at fair and affordable prices. Bait keeps growing exponentially, reaching 11.8 million active users by the end of the year, providing access to the digital economy.
Our health initiative, which counters the fact that a significant part of the population is not able to access good quality and low-cost medical services, has increased its membership numbers by three times compared to the same quarter last year. Finally, concerning the vast unbanked population who does not have access to credit and the benefits of the digital remittances and banking market, we have Cashi, which is just within a few months from going open loop following the integration of the Trafalgar acquisition in April last year. We continue with our Central America strategy, with expansion in all formats and further accelerating Bodega and Discount, powered by Walmex. Leveraging from the learnings in Mexico, we accelerate On Demand, and now this service is offered in more than 100 stores in the region. Also, Walmart Connect early results show strong potential going forward.
All in all, it was a good year with many achievements, where we delivered upon our growth strategy. Yet, we still have some areas of opportunity where we need to further accelerate. Now, let's go through our performance during the fourth quarter of 2023. Please, consider that when we talk about results in Central America, we are referring to figures on a constant currency basis. During the quarter, consolidated total revenue grew 6.7%, driven by 8.1% growth in Mexico and 5.6% in Central America, the latter impacted by deflation in Costa Rica. For the full year 2023, consolidated revenue grew 8.2%, reaching 9.3% in constant currency, 9.3% in Mexico, and 9.4% in Central America. Paulo will go in detail on the financials later in the presentation.
Let's go through our sales performance in Mexico. During the quarter, same-store sales grew 6.6%, out of which approximately 2.8% came from increase in ticket and 3.8% from traffic. Dolores will go through the operational highlights of the quarter in a couple of minutes, but I would like to highlight two things here. First, as in the previous quarter, we have all our formats and divisions in a positive growth path again. And second, as I commented on our previous webcast, we observed a similar effect with El Fin Irresistible in November, as what we reported back in June at the Hot Sale event, where the cautious consumers waited for the right moment at relevant sales events to purchase high-ticket products.
While Bodega and Sam's continued to deliver quarter over quarter, for our Walmart formats, we continue working on our key initiatives mentioned last quarter, regarding our upgraded fresh offering, enhanced assortment, and improved look and feel at stores, which has already helped us gain share in certain categories, such as fruit and vegetables. Concerning our performance compared to the market, during the quarter, our same-store sales grew ahead of the self-service and clubs market, measured by ANTAD by 60 basis points. For the full year, thanks to our strategy, price investments, and listening to our customers, we're able to overperform the formal market measured by ANTAD by 6 basis points, making it the 10th consecutive year, achieving a positive gap versus ANTAD figures. This speaks of the consistency and discipline of our execution this past decade, coupled with the work and effort our associates put every day.
We will continue to listen to our customers' needs, move fast, and innovate to constantly improve our value proposition, and transform the shopping experience to keep our clients' trust in us. Now, I'll pass the word to Dolores, for her to go through some operational highlights, and afterwards, I will return to comment on Central America, store openings, and ESG.
Thank you, Gui, and hello, everyone. As Gui shared with you before, Sam's Club delivered the highest same-store sales growth among our formats. The team is focusing on offering great products and working in a more digital way to further improve the members' experience. During the quarter, we hosted our Plus Fest event, where we offer unique items and great value for our Plus members. We had a 16% sales growth versus last year's event, and an increase in acquisition of all our different memberships. E-commerce continues to show momentum. On Sam's, online sales grew more than 20% versus the same quarter last year, becoming a key driver in their results. Along with our strategic priority, winning discounts, the combination of the lowest prices and efficient assortment has helped us maintain the trust of our customers.
This reflects in a 120 basis points improvement during the year in self-service price perception, and in our omnichannel NPS of Bodega, which in 2023 increased 110 basis points versus last year. We are always looking for new ways to better serve our customers. For example, due to the positive results we have seen in Bodega, we enabled the first self-checkout within a Bodega Aurrera Express, which has been very well received. Understanding how important proximity is for Bodega's customers, we are continually aiming to get closer and reach more of them. Bodega Aurrera Express is our vehicle to achieve this. In this quarter, we opened more than 50 Bodega Aurrera Express, making it our main expansion driver.
Also, during the quarter, we achieved a milestone of opening in Morelos, the 2,400th store of our Bodega formats, helping us achieve our expansion goals for the year. This quarter, we were also pleased with how general merchandise performed. In Supercenter, for example, our electronics, video, and cell phones category reached double-digit sales growth. Also, as Gui mentioned, we were seeing encouraging results with the key initiatives we have been implementing in our Walmart formats, regarding assortment, improved fresh offering, and look and feel at some stores. For Walmart Express, for example, the 2023 omni-channel NPS increased 710 basis points versus last year, which shows how well our customers are perceiving these efforts. That said, we recognize these formats can grow faster, and additional actions are being put in place to do so.
To finalize, our brands continue to be a key driver in our efforts to win in discounts, growing year-over-year, reflecting the confidence our customers have in their quality and value. This year, we launched and relaunched more than 800 products, and we continue to strengthen the quality through our suppliers to provide the best products to our customers and members. Now, I would like to talk about one of our biggest seasonal events, El Fin Irresistible, which took place from November 9, 2021 . We were pleased to see the results and how customers responded, since sales grew 10% versus last year's event. We had more than 70 million customers and members, with a 6% traffic increase. It proved to be a fully omni-channel event.
E-commerce sales represented over 15% of total sales, 210 basis points more than in last year's event. Sales through our app increased 94%, while our marketplace had 55% growth versus last year's El Fin Irresistible. Despensa Tu Casa, with an 80% growth versus last year, continued to demonstrate the omnichannel evolution of our top performance format during the event, Bodega Aurrera. For our customers to receive Walmart's standard service levels, we delivered 70% of the orders through our omnichannel dedicated fleet. This led to an omnichannel NPS increase of 480 basis points versus last year. Our ecosystem had a key role on these results. Walmart Connect had a 31% increase versus last year's event, which included, once again, virtual concerts for our customers.
Bait's new users grew 166%, while in our health initiative, more customers are finding value in our memberships, with over 100,000 sold during the event. Finally, Cashi was the number one financial app downloaded during the event, as we offered appealing offers for our customers, which typically are only available for credit card holders. Moving to another of our strategic priorities, leading omnichannel, let's take a look at our e-commerce performance for the fourth quarter. eCommerce GMV grew 23.1%, while online sales grew 19.5%, reaching a penetration of 6.2% of total sales and contributing 1.1% to total sales growth. On demand continues to be a key driver. We now have this service in more than 1,200 stores, and around half of them from Bodega formats.
They celebrated the third anniversary of Despensa Tu Casa. We are tailoring the omnichannel experience to the different customers we serve. Our 1-hour delivery offer is becoming more and more relevant for Walmart Express customers, representing 25% of total crowdsourcing orders in fourth quarter 2023. Regarding the extended assortment, our Marketplace SKUs increased 2.7x versus last year, while our sellers increased 50%. We continue to evolve in providing the level of service our customers expect. As you know, Walmart Fulfillment Services is key to deliver faster to our customers, and it continues to grow. In the fourth quarter, for example, WFS represented 33% of Marketplace, a 1,700 basis points increase versus 4Q 2022, helping customers receive their orders under our Walmart standard.
During the whole year, our GMV grew 21.7%, and our e-commerce net sales increased 18.3% compared to 2022. We are further consolidating our position as leader in omnichannel. We have seen customers post-pandemic going back to physical stores more than we originally thought, but we continue to see strong digital traffic and ticket size, which is why we remain positive with our e-commerce growth plan acceleration. Our on demand customers' average ticket is 2.5-3 times higher than traditional brick-and-mortar customers, and in the case of extended assortment in Bodega, it can go up to 10 times. Our focus remains on accelerating extended assortment, mainly driven by Marketplace. We are making it easier for sellers to work with us, developing our cross-border capabilities and investing in technology powered by Walmart to further improve customer experience.
This, without leaving aside, to continue to lead in on demand and be the primary destination for grocery home delivery shopping. Regarding our new verticals and our strategic priority to become the ecosystem of choice, Bait reached 11.8 million active users at the end of the year, more than doubling the 2022 number and adding 3.8 million new active users in the last quarter of the year. The growth rate at this vertical has turned exponential, and thanks to this strategy, every quarter, more customers are having low-cost access to the digital economy. Bait is becoming an important traffic driver and a 24/7 digital customer reach for Walmex. Walmart Connect grew 34% versus last year. This growth is in line with what has been the constant of a solid year, where Connect has continually become a relevant alternative for advertising among many of our suppliers.
Our financial services are becoming more relevant for our unbanked customers, so they can afford the merchandise they need. This year, we dispersed more than 500,000 credits, and we will continue working to strengthen our credit offerings for customers. Also, by offering our suppliers the possibility of anticipating payments, we reached a 32% income growth in our factoring business during 2023. As I mentioned before, Cashi was a very important sales driver through the seasonal period. During the quarter, the total process value increased close to three times versus the same period last year. On our coming Walmex Day in March, we will be able to share with you exciting news on the launch of new capabilities for this platform coming soon. Finally, our health vertical had a strong quarter with over 450,000 health memberships sold.
This is three times higher than what we sold in the same period last year. These memberships offer our customers easy and low-cost health services, discount in our pharmacies, free consultations, assistance services, among other things. As with other verticals, it is an important traffic driver to our pharmacies, where customers with a health membership have a pharmacy ticket 4 times higher than a regular customer. Now, I will leave you again with Guy, so he can comment about Central America, store openings, and ESG before going through the financial results. It was a pleasure being here with you, and I will be glad to answer any question in the live Q&A following this webcast.
... Thank you, Dolores. Moving to our Central America operation. Again, please consider that we are referring to figures on a constant currency basis. Central America same-store sales grew 4.6% during the quarter compared to the same period of 2022. During the fourth quarter, our focus in serving customers through price and assortment contributed to a same-store sales growth above the region's inflation. Growth rates were affected by political demonstrations during October in Guatemala and deflation pressure in Costa Rica, partially offset by volume growth in all markets. Total sales, excluding FX effects, reported a 5.6% growth in the fourth quarter. Enforcing our strategy, we focus on the proximity to customers, investing in 8 new stores in the region and reinforcing our everyday low price philosophy with close to 20% private brand penetration.
omnichannel momentum continues, gradually launching in bodegas in Costa Rica, while advancing with the implementation in Guatemala, which started during third quarter 2023. Total e-commerce sales closed with a positive double-digit growth and increasing sales penetration by 70 basis points. Additionally, Walmart Connect grew 31% with more than 120 advertising campaigns versus fourth quarter 2022. We are gradually working towards building up an ecosystem, which should bring in more opportunities in the future. Regarding new stores growth, during the quarter, we opened 101 new stores, out of which 93 were in Mexico and eight in Central America. New stores' contribution to consolidated sales growth was 1.5% for the full year, ahead of the guidance given on Walmex Day back in March 2023.
Our Bodega formats led in terms of openings, and we also have resumed our store growth plan in Guatemala. As I mentioned before, in 2023, we opened 162 stores, representing a record figure since 2013. We plan to accelerate this further in coming years. We continue to see room to open new stores, and we are pleased with the performance of the new openings. Now, let me tell you about some news on ESG matters. For the fourth consecutive year, we were included in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for our ongoing efforts to environment, social, and government issues. Also, we won the award in Inclusive Employment category in Mexico at the first edition of the DEI Awards for our strong commitment to the labor inclusion of people with disabilities. Providing support to our communities remain a key priority for us.
I want to take a moment to thank everyone involved in the efforts made towards helping our customers and associates in Acapulco, Guerrero. I'm proud to see that our reaction was very fast and always following our safety protocols, so we were able to get the affected stores back in operation as soon as possible for our customers to be able to get the products they need in these tough circumstances. We faced one of the most devastating natural disasters in the history of Mexico, Hurricane Otis. Our immediate priority was the well-being of our associates and the affected families. We provided more than MXN 50 million in financial support to our more than 1,800 affected associates.
Besides the financial impact that this tragic event implied for the company, we donated, together with our parent company, more than MXN 100 million for first response and recovery efforts. Also, we donated food, personal hygiene items, and cleaning products. Additionally, we set up collection centers in our stores and clubs in nine states. We opened community dining rooms, and we provided free mobile phone and internet connection for Bait customers in the area. We were completely devoted to helping our associates and communities, which included having all our affected stores working as soon as possible and making sure that people had enough products to meet their needs. All the above was possible thanks to great partnerships with the Mexican Red Cross, federal and local authorities, various allied business partners, and of course, many different teams inside the organization.
I'm proud of how we respond to the crisis, and I want to thank everyone for their work and support. Regarding the COFECE investigation, on December 14, 2023, Walmex timely submitted its defense arguments and offered its evidence to COFECE. A resolution to this administrative stage is expected during the second half of 2024. This was the first opportunity for Walmex to defend itself against the investigative authority allegations. Walmex is confident that its actions have adhered to the applicable legislation, and that its participation in the Mexican market has resulted in lower prices for consumers, particularly benefiting Mexican families with the lowest incomes and remote areas of the country that have not been attended by others, which we'll demonstrate in the corresponding instance and in the appropriate forums in which we will exercise our rights.
To close, we are focused on fulfilling our purpose of being a people-led, tech-powered, Omnichannel retailer, dedicated to helping people save money and live better. I'm really excited about what's to come. We will continue to face new challenges, but I'm certain that we have great talent to sort them out. We will share with you our detailed plans for 2024 on our Walmex Day, which will take place on March 12th in Mexico City. I hope to see you all there. I will leave you with Paulo for the financial results of the quarter, and we will meet afterwards for our new quarter live Q&A. Thanks for joining us today.
Thanks, Gui, and good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for joining us today to review the results for the fourth quarter of 2023. I'll start by covering Mexico results, and then I will comment on Central America. Important to mention that the fourth quarter and full year 2023 results were impacted by two one-offs related to Hurricane Otis and a positive accounting reversal of an intercompany transaction that I will detail later on. Let's look at Mexico's results first. As Gui previously mentioned, total revenue for the fourth quarter of the year increased 8.1%, driven by same-store sales growth of 6.6%, and e-commerce, which contributed 1.1% to total sales growth. Gross margin expanded by 80 basis points, helped by new business performance and improved commercial margins.
SG&A grew 12.2%, representing 14.5% of revenues. I will go through the gross margin and the SG&A breakdown in a moment. Operating income grew 5.7%, while reported EBITDA margin, impacted by Otis, stood at best-in-class levels of 10.9%. As I mentioned before, we had two relevant one-offs during the quarter. The first one linked to Hurricane Otis in Guerrero, which had a negative impact of close to MXN 1.5 billion on EBITDA. The second one related to the aforementioned reversal of an intercompany transaction with a positive impact of approximately MXN 1 billion. Excluding these 2 one-offs, our Op Inc would have increased 8.3%, and EBITDA margin would have remained flat versus the first quarter of 2022.
In the webcast presentation, published on our website, you'll be able to find the reported Mexico fourth quarter results figures compared against the pro forma, excluding the effect of these two one-offs. Expanding on gross margin, during the quarter, we had a benefit of 35 basis points on commercial margin from both our brick and e-commerce businesses. Our new businesses, such as Walmart Connect, Bait, and Financial Services, which are contributing more and more to our P&L, provided 30 basis points improvement on gross margin. Finally, the net effect of two one-offs mentioned before increased our gross margin by 10 basis points to reach the 23.7% reported. Now, let's review our SG&A. During the quarter, we were able to partially offset labor cost increase through operational efficiencies. Nevertheless, our run increased 10 basis points. Strategic growth investments impacted fourth quarter expenses by 30 basis points.
We continue to invest behind our growth strategy to accelerate store expansion, strengthen our associate value proposition, enhance our e-commerce, and develop our new verticals. Hurricane Otis had a 15 basis points impact, which took our expenses to 14.5% of revenues. Some of the one-off Otis costs include equipment write-off, expenses to support associates and communities, stores' rehabilitation, among others. Now, let's review Central America results. Please consider that on this slide, I will refer to figures on a constant currency basis. Total revenues grew 5.6%, driven by a 4.6% same-store sales growth. As Gui previously mentioned, volume growth helped offset deflation pressure in Costa Rica and demonstrations during October in Guatemala, closing same-store growth above the region inflation.
This quarter, gross margin improved 30 basis points to 23.8%, behind logistics benefits on imports and improved commercial margins in certain categories, helping offset customer value proposition investments and higher manufacturing perishable costs. SG&A represented 17.3% of revenues, 10 basis points improvement, driven by operational efficiencies and sales leverage. Finally, operating income grew almost in line with sales growth, while EBITDA growth was 3.6%, with an 8.5% margin. At consolidated level, total revenue increased 6.7%, with new stores contributing 1.5% to total growth in the quarter, ahead of the guidance provided in our last year's Walmex Day. Gross profit increased 9.8% compared to the first quarter of 2022, representing 23.7% of sales, while SG&A grew 9.7%. As a result-...
EBITDA margin was 10.5%, reporting a 20 basis points contraction compared to the fourth quarter of 2022. Excluding the two one-offs previously mentioned, both our OPI and EBITDA would have grown at healthy, high single-digit level and would have remained flat versus the fourth quarter of the previous year, once again, achieving best-in-class profit returns. Now, moving to the balance sheet. Cash decreased 14.2% compared to the fourth quarter 2022, mainly due to the installments of the dividend paid and CapEx investments in high-return projects. Inventories grew 6.3% below sales, driven by improved performance in groceries, fresh, and health categories. Finally, accounts payable grew 15.6% above sales due to the Christmas season and El Fin Irresistible purchases, and the natural growth of the business regarding the opening of new stores.
In the last 12 months, we generated MXN 83.8 billion in cash and MXN 9.9 billion through working capital, the latter helping us to improve capital efficiency. We returned MXN 46.3 billion to our shareholders as dividends, 57% more compared to last year due to the special one-off dividend paid in April. In 2023, we have stepped up significantly our CapEx execution, investing MXN 28.9 billion in high-return projects, above our guidance, due to opportunities to accelerate our organic expansion, reflecting our commitment to accelerate our growth story. We paid almost MXN 20 billion in taxes, and our associate share plan required over MXN 4 billion. As we announced on the previous quarter, we started operating our share buyback program, repurchasing shares worth close to MXN 1 billion during the quarter.
With all this, we ended the year with a cash position of 40.7 billion MXN. Our strategy translates into value creation for shareholders with improved returns on investment. We will propose in the next shareholder meeting a dividend per share of 2.17 MXN for 2024, 1.18 MXN per share as ordinary dividend, and 0.99 MXN per share as extraordinary dividend. As you know, last year, we distributed an additional extraordinary dividend in April, mainly as a result of lower 2022 CapEx deployment. For 2024, and after improved CapEx execution in 2023, we will go back to a normalized payout ratio. Ordinary dividends will be paid in 2 installments of 0.59 MXN per share each, one in November and the second one in December.
Extraordinary dividends will be paid in two installments of 0.49 MXN and 0.5 MXN per share each, also one in November and the second one in December. The proposal will be put to vote at our annual ordinary shareholders meeting, which will be held on April 10, 2024. To sum up, I would like you to leave you with three key messages. Number one, continued growth momentum, growing same-store sales ahead of the self-service market measured by ANTAD for the tenth consecutive year. Number two, strong store expansion, reinforcing our commitment to our growth strategy. And number three, increased CapEx execution in high-return projects, extending upward ROI trend. All in all, it was a year fully in line with our two key message to our stakeholders: accelerated growth with improved ROI returns.
To close, and as Gui already mentioned, we will host our Walmex Day 2024 event on March 12th. We are very excited to see you all, hopefully in person, and we hope you can join us. To register for the event, please contact the investor relations team. Now, Gui, Dolores, Salvador, and myself will meet you for our new quarterly live Q&A session to answer the questions you may have. Thanks again for your interest in our company.