Jerónimo Martins H1 profit falls as sales rise 5.1%
Portugal’s Jerónimo Martins posted a 3.4% drop in first-half profit despite higher sales, highlighting pressure on food retail margins in its main markets.
Jerónimo Martins, the Portuguese retail group that owns supermarket chain Pingo Doce, reported first-half net profit of €260 million, down 3.4% from a year earlier, even as sales rose 5.1% to €18.2 billion.
According to the report filed with CMVM, Portugal’s securities market regulator, EBITDA rose 7.6% year on year to €1.2 billion, lifting the margin to 6.8%. The company said the first six months were “much more demanding than expected”.
In Portugal, Pingo Doce sales increased 5.3% to €2.7 billion, with like-for-like growth of 3.7%, while Recheio sales rose 2.5% to €673 million. Jerónimo Martins said Pingo Doce’s promotional campaigns helped support sales as consumers remained focused on saving opportunities.
In Poland, where Biedronka is the group’s largest business, sales rose 1.7% to €12.6 billion and like-for-like growth was 0.2%, as food deflation put what the company described as “enormous pressure” on the basket. In Colombia, Ara was the only banner to post double-digit growth, with sales up 30.2% to €2 billion.
Jerónimo Martins invested €412 million in the first half, including 18 Pingo Doce store refurbishments and one opening. Chairman Pedro Soares dos Santos said the group does not expect “a significant improvement in the operating environment in the second half” in any of the countries where it operates.
Originally published at Eco.pt
