Portugal's Sonae Group has sees its turnover grow 6% in the first quarter of the year to €1.2 billion, with its food retail business, Sonae MC, 'growing significantly' in the period.
The Sonae MC operation posted turnover of €830 million in the quarter, an increase of 4.6% on the same period last year, and a like-for-like increase of 1.4%.
In a statement, the retailer said that it plans to open smaller stores over the remainder of the year, 'with the purpose of growing the company’s convenience stores network.'
During the quarter, Sonae opened three new Continente Bom Dia and six new Meu Super stores. It also opened a new 6,500 square metro hypermarket under the '2020 hypermarket of the future' concept.
“Sonae’s first quarter 2016 was marked by the growth in the activity levels of the largest business units (Retail - 6% and Telecommunications - 8%), along with a significant increase in sales productivity on a like-for-like basis," said Sonae’s Co-CEO, Ângelo Paupério.
"Even after taking into consideration the favourable effect of an early Easter and the leap year, the results are very positive in view of the slowdown in economic growth in the Iberian Peninsula and the highly aggressive competitive environment prevalent in these sectors."
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
