Jerónimo Martins’ profits climb to €419 million in 9M22

  • ECO News
  • 27 October 2022

In the first nine months of 2022, the group increased its profits by 29.3% year-on-year, with net profit rising to €419 million.

Jerónimo Martins increased its earnings in the first nine months of the year. The group increased its profits by 29.3% year-on-year, with net profit rising to €419 million.

In the first nine months, the company’s sales amounted to €18.4 billion, representing an increase of 21% year-on-year, according to a statement sent to CMVM on Wednesday. The group’s EBITA grew 17.8% to €1.3 billion.

“With the sharp rises in food and energy prices reducing households’ purchasing power, we decided, across all group’s companies, to contain, as much as possible, the rise in prices in our stores, accepting a reduction in margins as a percentage of sales,” says the Chairman and CEO, Pedro Soares dos Santos, for whom these results “reflect this decision and the agility and assertiveness of our banners that ended the period with stronger market positions and heavy store traffic.”

Jerónimo Martins also highlights the solidity of the group’s balance sheet, which at the end of September had a net cash position (excluding capitalized operating lease liabilities) of €763 million. Net debt is around €1.7 billion.

In Portugal, where “the pressure of generalized price increases on households’ disposable income led to negative volume performance in retail food sales and an increased trade-down,” i.e. choosing lower-cost products, the group’s EBITDA amounted to €241 million, 12.5% up from the previous year. In the third quarter, “the EBITDA margin was pressured by price investment and a substantial increase in electricity costs.”

In the first nine months of the year, Pingo Doce sales grew 10.3% (+13.4% in Q3) to €3.3 billion. Recheio benefited from the recovery of the HoReCa sector accompanying the recovery of tourism in Portugal, which led sales to grow 28.8% and reach 850 million euros in this period.

In Poland, the Biedronka supermarket chain increased sales by 23% in local currency, corresponding to €12.7 billion in nine months. The Hebe beauty chain, meanwhile, recorded turnover equivalent to €252 million, 30% up on the same period the previous year, rising 33.6% in local currency.

At last, in Colombia, where food inflation remains above 20% and consumption is heavily impacted, Ara “consistently invested in price, responding to a clear need for families to have access to value opportunities”. As a result, sales increased 66.2% in local currency, leading the retail insignia to accelerate its opening plan for this year from 180 to 230 to 250 stores.