Jerónimo Martins’ profits reach €401M. Company cuts back on dividend distribution
Two years after having returned all profits to its investors, the company is now back to the usual dividend policy. It will distribute half of the profits.
Jernónimo Martins closed accounts in 2018 reaching €401M in profits, which represents an increase of 4.1% in comparison to the previous year. Although there was an increase in the profits this year, the company has decided to go back to its usual policy of dividend distribution, two years after it shared all the profits with investors — this year, only half of the profits will be distributed to its investors.
The increase in profits, from €385M to €401M in 2018, shows “a positive operational performance”, according to the company’s note sent to the Portuguese Securities and Markets Commissions, published this Wednesday.
Last year, sales increased by 6.5%, from €16,276M in 2017 to €17,337M in 2018.
This result was largely motivated by the positive evolution of the company’s business in Poland. The sales of their polish brach, Biedronka, reached €11,691M in 2018, which accounts for an increase of 5.6% in comparison to 2017. Also, the company notes that this result was a win, as it was achieved despite the fact that there were 21 days less than the previous year for their operations, due to new regulations which obliged them to close on sundays. The Polish operations represent 67.4% of the total of the group’s accounts.
