Lidl Croatia has become the second-largest grocery retailer in the country, based on 2016 sales results, according to the latest data from the Financial Agency (FINA).
Nine of the ten leading grocery retailers in Croatia ended 2016 with increased revenue on 2015, with the exception of Plodine, which saw sales fall by 0.27%. This enabled Lidl to move into second place, but T-Portal reports that this position could be threatened by Spar by the end of 2017.
However, the latest data does not include the country's largest retail chain, Konzum, which posted a turnover of HRK 15 billion in 2015. The national retailer is faced with problems caused by Agrokor's financial crisis, and its 2016 results will be known after the company has been audited.
Retail Performance
For the first time ever, Lidl achieved a turnover of HRK 4 billion (+7.75%), while net profit grew by 43%, to HRK 265 million.
It was also a good year for Kaufland, which is owned by Germany’s Schwarz group. Kaufland's turnover grew 4.65%, to HRK 3.3 billion, but the company ended last year with a loss of almost HRK 30 million.
Despite investing HRK 2 billion in recent years, Plodine stagnated and ended 2016 with a turnover of HRK 3.8 billion, although profit grew to HRK 79 million.
Spar, meanwhile, is in the process of completing the takeover of Billa's Croatian operations, which posted HRK 1.7 billion of turnover in 2016, and it is opening a number of new stores on the coast. The forecast is for Spar to end 2017 with a turnover of over HRK 4 billion.
Tommy, based in the city of Split, grew by 4%, to HRK 2.3 billion, Studenac grew by 5%, to HRK 1.5 billion, while NTL and KTC both grew by 6%.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
