Local supermarket chain Konzum continues to dominate the Croatian food retail market, but foreign rivals Lidl and Spar are rapidly catching up, according to reports.
Given the strong growth in personal consumption in Croatia and the excellent tourist season, last year's trends were generally favourable for retailers.
However, not all took advantage of this opportunity.
Although Konzum’s revenues are still double of Lidl, competition is rapidly closing the gap, according to T-Portal.
Konzum, Spar, and Kaufland suffered moderate losses, while Lidl posted the highest profit.
Konzum
Agrokor's retail unit managed to keep the negative trend in check for the first time after 2015 by achieving a 2% revenue growth to HRK 9.53 billion (€1.28 billion).
However, compared to the record year 2015, it is still in the red.
Last year’s losses amounted to HRK 283.9 million (€38.1 million), of which about HRK 100 million refers to write-offs from Agrokor's balance sheet.
Lidl
Lidl consolidated its position as the number two retailer in Croatia, reporting double-digit revenue growth of 11.5% to HRK 5.17 billion (€694.7 million).
Its pre-tax profits amounted to HRK 348 million (€46.7 million).
Spar
Spar edged out Plodine to acquire the third position and reported the highest organic growth of 20.25%.
Growth was largely based on the acquisition of Billa and Diona, and new store openings across Croatia.
However, it is still operating at a loss of HRK 40.7 million, which is considerably lower than the previous years.
Plodine
Plodine, one of Croatia’s largest domestic chains, emerged in the fourth place, with revenue down 0.46% to HRK 4.22 billion (€567.1 million).
Owned by Mile Ćurković, the retail chain's net profit amounted to HRK 146.6 million (€19.7 million).
Kaufland
After posting solid results in 2017, Kaufland found itself among retailers with stagnating revenue, ending 2018 with HRK 3.62 billion (€486.4 million) and a net loss of HRK 26 million (-67.9%).
Tommy
Owned by Split-based entrepreneur Tomislav Mamic, Tommy continued to grow, albeit at a slower pace.
It retained the fifth position in the rankings with revenue of HRK 2.85 billion (€382.9 million), up 5.7% year-on-year, while net profit dipped 15.9% to HRK 152.6 million.
© 2019 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.
