STA, 23 November 2018 - Mercator, Slovenia's largest retailer, posted a group net profit of EUR 9m for the first nine months of 2018, which compares to a EUR 10.5m loss in the same period last year, as sales rose by 1.6% to EUR 1.62bn.
Profit before income tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by a quarter to EUR 87m, with operating profit (EBIT) surging by 157% to EUR 36m, the company said in an interim financial report released on Friday.
The improvement was driven by retail sales, which rose by 5.4% to EUR 1.2bn. "A new strategy, new store concept, store refurbishments and improved competitiveness of services are driving positive results in the core business," the company said.
On its key Slovenian market, retail sales improved by 0.5% despite what the company said was a significant reduction in store surfaces.
By the end of September, the group reduced its net financial debt by a tenth to EUR 738m, with the debt-to-EBITDA ratio going from 16 to 7.2.
Investments in fixed assets were almost halved to EUR 19m.
The number of employees dropped by more than 2% at group level to 20,322.
The core company saw sales improve by less than a percent to EUR 880m, while net profit remained flat at EUR 14.7m.
The financials do not yet account for the monetisation of real estate agreed in October, when Mercator concluded a sale and leaseback agreement with Austrian developer Supernova involving ten malls and worth EUR 117m.
Related: How to get a Mercator Pika card
