Greek retailer Jumbo says 2020 a "lost year" after nine-month profit drops

Jumbo SA

14/12/2020 16:55

ATHENS, Dec 14 (Reuters) - Greek toy and seasonal items
retailer Jumbo  BABr.AT  reported a 13% drop in nine-month
profit on Monday and warned that 2020 will be a "lost year" as
its stores across the country remain shut during the Christmas
season due to the pandemic.
    Non-essential retailers in Greece have had to close stores
since the country imposed a second lockdown in early November to
deal with a new surge in COVID-19 infections.
    New cases have dropped in recent days but the health system
is still under pressure and the government has said that
retailers of non-essential goods will not be able to reopen
before Jan. 8 at the earliest.
    Jumbo operates 52 stores in Greece and another 28 in 
Romania, Bulgaria and Cyprus. In a trading update on Monday it
said that nine-month earnings before interest and tax came in at
123 million euros ($149.35 million), down from 141.4 million in
the same period last year.
    The retailer said that 2020 will be a "lost year" for sales
as its shops remained closed during the key Easter and Christmas
periods, which account for a combined 45% of its revenue.
    The group said nine-month sales dropped 9% to 503 million
euros and the decline widened to 10.7% in the 11 months to
November, hurt by the recent restrictions in both Greece and
Cyprus.
    It said it was making cost cutting and other measures to
protect its finances.


($1 = 0.8236 euros)

 (Reporting by Angeliki Koutantou; Editing by Susan Fenton)
 ((angeliki.koutantou@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376436;
Reuters Messaging: angeliki.koutantou.reuters.com@reuters.net))