Slovenia’s Mercator Group has posted a net profit of €1.6 million in its financial year 2018, after reporting a loss of €184.4 million a year earlier.
Net sales revenue increased by 1.2% to €2.18 billion, with FMCG sales, which is Mercator’s main activity, up by 3.2%, to €1.63 billion.
Normalised EBITDA for the financial year grew by 18.6% to €107.5 million.
Regional Performance
Out of its total revenue, 56.1% was generated in Slovenia, 32.6% in Serbia, 5.4% in Montenegro, 4.9% in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and the remaining 1.0% in Croatia.
Last year, the retailer purchased €1.2 billion from local and regional suppliers, accounting for 70% of the entire procurement, significantly contributing to the development of the entire production and sales chain in the markets where it is active.
Mercator Group lowered its financial debt by 24.2% last year to €785 million.
The ratio between net financial debt and normalised EBITDA reached 7.2, down by 24.2% compared to 2017.
Investments in fixed assets amounted to €29.9 million in 2018.
Mercator Group channeled 56.7% of its investments in Slovenia, and 43.3% in other markets.
Outlook
Mercator Group forecasts that 2019 will be marked by continued tough business conditions due to competition and higher energy, services and labour costs.
Another challenge will be activities related to the execution of the approved settlement of the Agrokor Group creditors.
Every week, around 5 million customers visit Mercator Group’s 1,051 directly managed stores in the four markets where it operates.
Most of its stores are in Slovenia (528), followed by Serbia (327), Montenegro (119) and Bosnia-Herzegovina (77).
In its home turf, Mercator Group is a leader with a 29% market share, ahead of Spar (23%), Hofer (13%), Tuš (11%) and Lidl (10%).
Source: Mercator/Helen Svilan