Portuguese retailer Jerónimo Martins, which also operates the Biedronka chain in Poland, saw its group sales rise by 8.3 per cent last year to €13.7 billion.
The retailer's net results were up 10.5 per cent to €33 million, as its brands Biedronka, Pingo Doce and Recheio 'outperformed their respective markets', the company said in a statement.
'Sound operational performance and strict management of both working capital and capex drove cash flow generated by the Group to increase 80% to €482 million in the year,' it added.
Biedronka, which accounts for 80.2 per cent of the group's total EBITDA, saw a like for like sales improvement of 3.2 per cent.
"2015 was a good year for all our banners, that fought in the market place for sales and market shares increases in line with the top priorities defined for the year," said chairman and CEO Pedro Soares dos Santos.
"Improving Biedronka’s offer and reinforcing a consumer-centric approach to opportunities were key objectives, and we successfully delivered on both as confirmed by our results.
Pingo Doce and Recheio posted extremely sound sales performances, increasing market shares in a still tough context for Portuguese families."
Commenting on its performance, Barclays European Retail Equity Research offered a fairly optimistic view of the year ahead for the group: "Although the retail tax project in Poland will likely be softer than initially feared, we believe that its implementation will weigh on retailers’ margins in the short term. However, Jerónimo Martins’ demanding valuation multiples leave limited scope for any negative newsflow."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
