Portugal's Jeronimo Martins quarterly profit jumps, strong sales in Poland
26/07/2022 18:36
LISBON, July 26 (Reuters) - Portugal's No. 2 retailer,
Jeronimo Martins JMT.LS , on Tuesday reported a 35% jump in
second-quarter net income, with strong sales in its key market
Poland, supported by the consumption of millions of Ukrainian
refugees amid soaring inflation.
The company booked a net profit of 173 million euros between
April and June, which this year included the Easter holiday
season, up from 129 million euros a year earlier, when it was
affected by COVID-19 restrictions.
It said in a statement that "in Poland, food sales continued
to record solid growth driven by higher inflation and
volume increases."
"The measures implemented by the government to protect
consumers from the increasing pressure over disposable income,
combined with a more extensive consumer base due to the flow of
Ukrainian refugees to Poland, should have contributed
to this trend," the company said.
Consolidated sales in the second quarter of the year rose
24.5% to 6.37 billion euros, driven by the company's
market-leading Polish retail chain Biedronka, whose sales
increased 24% to 4.45 billion euros.
It said food inflation in Poland reached 11.1% in the second
quarter, compared with 8.7% in the previous three months,
despite the reduction to zero of the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate
on essential food products since February.
The United Nations estimated in late May that since Russia
invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, some 3.5 million people had left
Ukraine and entered Poland.
In Portugal, sales at the Pingo Doce supermarket chain rose
11% to 1.1 million euros.
(Reporting by Sergio Goncalves in Lisbon
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
((sergio.goncalves@thomsonreuters.com; +351213509204; Reuters
Messaging: sergio.goncalves.reuters.com@reuters.net))