Polish wholesaler Eurocash has said that it plans to develop its omnichannel capabilities, invest further in its franchise and partner networks, and develop a tech platform for local operators during the period 2023-2025.
The group announced its strategy as it reported a 'strong' increase in sales across all business segments in the first half of its financial year, by more than 16% year-on-year to PLN 14.3 billion (€3.02 billion)
It also reported its best-ever EBITDA performance in the half-year period, of PLN 407 million (€86 million), a 102% increase on the same period last year.
Maximise The Potential
"The Eurocash Group is already the largest FMCG wholesaler in the country, with the most advanced logistics network," commented Paweł Surówka, president of Eurocash Group. "We are also the operator of franchise and partner networks with almost 16,000 stores and the owner of the largest online supermarket in Poland.
"The new strategy will allow for the full use of this potential and even better support the development of Polish entrepreneurs running local stores."
Other aspects of its 2023-2025 strategy include the group's ambition to double B2B e-commerce sales via its eurocash.pl platform, the development of its Delikatesy Centrum banner into a franchise model, and growing revenues at its Frisco e-grocery business to PLN 1 billion (up from PLN 294 million reported in full-year 2021).
Solid First Half
As regards its half-year performance, Eurocash noted that it recorded a double-digit increase in sales in each distribution format, which in turn bolstered EBITDA performance – wholesale EBITDA rose by 24%, it said.
"At the same time, more and more of our customers order products at eurocash.pl," said Jacek Owczarek, member of the management board and financial director of Eurocash Group.
"The number of users of this platform in June increased to nearly 38,000 compared to less than 31,000 at the beginning of the year."
Total retail sales at the business were up nearly 20%, meanwhile, to PLN 3.6 billion (€760 million), in the first half of the year.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jone. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
