Slovenia’s Mercator Group is targeting €2.4 billion in revenue for 2017, less than the €2.6 billion of expected revenues in 2016.
According to the retail chain, owned by Croatian food-to-retail consortium Agrokor, the decline in revenue will be a result of an increased focus on the core retail business.
This year, the company has completed the divestment and sale of specialised units for the sale of textiles, sports equipment, clothes and cosmetics, such as Intersport.
Mercator says that the main goals for 2016 and in 2017 are 'meeting the needs of the modern consumer and [making] affordable favourable offers, increasing the attractiveness for regular customers and securing new customers'.
The biggest investment in 2017 will be the logistics and warehouse centre in Ljubljana (due to open in 2019), with 72% of the planned investment targeted at the Slovenian market.
The focus will be the renovation of smaller store formats, such as supermarkets and neighbourhood stores, and the construction of new ones.
This year's results have yet to be published but sales decreased after Mercator sold its Modiana and Intersport units earlier this year.
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
