Lithuanian retailer Maxima Grupė has said that the expansion of its Polish operations helped boost revenue in its 2019 financial year.
The group posted revenue of €3.93 billion in 2019, which was an increase of 15.7% on the previous year, boosted by the acquisition and integration of the Polish retail chain Stokrotka in April 2018.
Revenue Performance
Consolidated like-for-like revenue at Maxima Grupė grew by 3.4% last year, compared to a 1.6% increase in 2018.
Like-for-like revenue was up 2.9% in the Baltic states, it said, and by 4.7% in Poland and Bulgaria.
The highest revenue growth was recorded in Poland (+15.2%) and Bulgaria (+12.6%), while in Latvia, it saw revenue growth of 7.7%, in Lithuania, growth was 4.4%, and in Estonia, growth was 0.9%.
The group became the market leader in Latvia during the period, holding a 25.5% share of the grocery market.
E-commerce sales across the business grew by 32.3% last year, albeit off a small base – online grocery accounts for 1.7% of total sales in the group's Baltic operations.
The group's EBITDA in 2019 (excluding IFRS 16) stood at €234.5 million, a 4.9% increase, which again was helped by the performance of its Polish business. However, operating margin dropped by 0.6%, as the business 'continued to invest in better prices for [its] customers', the company said.
Revenue Boost
“The expansion in Poland over the last two years has increased Maxima Grupė’s 2019 total revenue up to €3.9 billion," commented Maxima Grupė’s CEO Jurgita Šlekytė.
"However, profitability decreased due to investments in better prices for our customers. We focused on opening new stores and increasing the number of self-service checkouts."
The company invested €131.3 million into its fixed assets in 2019, which was 49% higher than in 2018, with 36 stores reconstructed, including the largest Maxima outlet, in Vilnius' Akropolis shopping mall.
Coronavirus Impact
The group said that while the 'full impact' of the COVID-19 epidemic on its business remains 'uncertain', the liquidity of the group is 'adequate', and Maxima is taking steps to maintain steady business flows.
'Furthermore, despite the slowdown in the supply chain, the companies of Maxima Grupė are striving to ensure a sufficient amount of goods on the shelves, and by adapting and reacting to the changing situation are expanding e-commerce services,' it said.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
