Jeronimo Martins' quarterly profit rises 31%, beating expectations (updated)

Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA

07/05/2025 18:56

Adds CEO quotes in paragraphs 3-4, detail in paragraphs 7-9

By Sergio Goncalves

LISBON, May 7 (Reuters) - Portuguese retailer Jeronimo Martins JMT.LS on Wednesday posted a 31% rise in first-quarter net profit that beat analysts' expectations as sales remained strong despite fierce competition in its key market, Poland, and it kept its margin stable.

The company booked a net profit of 127 million euros ($144 million) between January and March - a quarter that this year did not include the Easter holiday season, unlike in 2024 - above the 106 million average forecast by analysts polled by LSEG.

CEO Pedro Soares dos Santos said the environment in the markets where the company operates remained "clouded by geopolitical risks and socio-economic dynamics" and consumers were cautious due to heightened uncertainty, making it difficult to anticipate their future behaviour.

He said the company would closely monitor the evolution of consumer demand and competitors' moves, but "fully reiterate" the previous outlook.

Consolidated earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) grew 3.8% to 528 million euros, also beating the average forecast of 502 million.

The consolidated EBITDA margin, which measures profitability, stood at 6.3% at end-March, the same level as a year ago. Polish food retail leader Biedronka's margin was also steady at 7.7%.

    Consolidated sales increased by 3.8% to 8.4 billion euros in the quarter, while sales at Biedronka grew by 3.4% to 5.9 billion euros despite Easter this year coming after the first quarter and the "extraordinary growth" in sales in Poland a year ago.

In Poland, despite the minimum wage for workers having increased by 9.2% - above first-quarter food inflation of 6.1% - consumers remain "very sensitive to the price factor and the competitive environment remains intense", the company said.

 At home, the Pingo Doce chain posted a 2.8% rise in sales to 1.2 billion euros, while Ara, the company's growing Colombian network, booked 775 million euros in sales, up 9% from last year.

($1 = 0.8813 euros)

 (Reporting by Sergio Goncalves; Editing by David Latona and Nick Zieminski)

 ((sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204; Reuters Messaging: sergio.goncalves.reuters.com@reuters.net))