UPDATE 2-Mexico's FEMSA revenues climb 11% on Oxxo, Coca-Cola growth

(Updates share price, adds detail from call)

By Kylie Madry

MEXICO CITY, April 26 (Reuters) - Mexico's FEMSA , which controls one of the largest Coca-Cola bottlers and a string of convenience store chains, posted an 11% increase in revenue in the first quarter, boosted by growth across nearly all its business sectors.

Revenue came in at 178.20 billion pesos ($10.78 billion) in the three-month period, largely in line with expectations, as sales from chain store Oxxo, bottler Coca-Cola Femsa and Femsa's fuel division posted double-digit growth. Revenue from European convenience chain Valora and other retail stores was up 8%.

Sales only fell at Femsa's pharmacy division, down 2.3%, where it closed nearly three-dozen stores and faced challenges across Latin America.

Shares in Femsa climbed more than 3.5% following a call with executives, in which they painted sunny skies for the retail division going forward.

In Mexico, Femsa plans to open between 1,000 to 1,100 Oxxos this year and is confident it can keep up the pace for many years, retail head Jose Antonio Fernandez Garza said.

Brazil, where Femsa operates Oxxos in a joint venture with Raizen, could become as big a market for the chain as Mexico, if not bigger within a few years, Fernandez said.

The executive also outlined hopes to enter the U.S. market, potentially through a moderately sized acquisition, targeting states along the U.S.-Mexico border where the Oxxo brand already has some name recognition. Gas stations in that region, except for California and Florida, could also be an option, he said.

The company's fintech arm, Spin by Oxxo, passed the firm's goal of 10 million clients, bringing in 1 million new users in the quarter. Femsa is beginning to monetize Spin user data with consumer-packaged goods companies and plans to eventually add lending options, according to Fernandez.

Spin could also purchase a competitor, Fernandez said, though incoming CFO Martin Arias later cautioned that Femsa's digital division does not have an immediate need to do a deal.

The firm's adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, or core earnings, for the quarter rose 15% to 25.05 billion pesos ($1.52 billion).

Femsa's net profits slid 93%, largely due to gains a year ago on the sale of its interest in beer maker Heineken , but were flat excluding the one-off, analysts at Santander said.

Femsa last year kicked off efforts to slim down to its core operations, shedding its stake in the Dutch beer giant as well as Jetro Restaurant Depot. ($1 = 16.5310 Mexican pesos at end-March) (Reporting by Kylie Madry, Juana Casas and Natalia Siniawski; Editing by Michael Erman)