Supermarket chain Jeronimo Martins aims to open in Slovakia next year

Jeronimo Martins SGPS SA

26/10/2023 13:36

LISBON, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Portuguese supermarket group
Jeronimo Martins  JMT.LS  expects to open its first stores in
Slovakia at the end of next year in an expansion of its Polish
chain Biedronka, its finance chief said on Thursday.    
    The Slovakia unit's results would be reported separately
from Biedronka, Chief Financial Officer Ana Luisa Virginia said,
adding that it was premature to provide any guidance for
investment and sales of the unit. 
    "We are talking about an operation done from scratch, we are
not disclosing much," she said on a conference call with
analysts.
    The company's interest in the central European country was
first reported in March, when the head of the Polish unit
Biedronka, Luis Araujo, said that many Slovak consumers were
already crossing the border to buy at Biedronka, and the company
had been "looking carefully at Slovakia" for expansion.
    Besides Portugal and Poland, Jerónimo Martins is present in
Colombia, where it operates a store chain called ARA.
        The CFO did not rule out a potential expansion to
Romania - a market that has been on the company's radar for
years - but noted it was not a priority. 
    "It would only be (a priority) if we decided that we would
have the right target at the right price," she said. "Currently,
we want to concentrate on Poland, on ARA. So, it's not really a
priority." 
    On Wednesday Jeronimo Martins reported a 28% jump in
third-quarter net profit, driven by a robust increase in sales
at Biedronka, although its profitability narrowed slightly on
cost inflation and discounts. 
    Its shares were up more than 7% by early afternoon on
Thursday, with JP Morgan analysts noting the results were better
than feared at Poland's market leader Biedronka, which justified
the rebound in the shares following recent underperformance.

 (Reporting by Patrícia Vicente Rua; Editing by Andrei Khalip
and Susan Fenton)
 ((patricia.rua@thomsonreuters.com; +351 21 123 2775; Reuters
Messaging: patricia.rua.reuters.com@reuters.net))