Poland's Zabka ends Q3 with 18% Y/Y jump in core profits

Zabka SA

05/11/2024 07:02

GDANSK, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Polish convenience store group
Zabka  ZAB.WA  posted an 18% rise in third-quarter adjusted core
profit, driven by new store openings, higher sales and margin,
as well as improvements to cost efficiency.
    Adjusted EBITDA - earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortisation, adjusted by one-off items - for
the period rose to 1.12 billion zlotys ($279.72 million),
supported by revenues of 6.58 billion, the company said late on
Monday.
    The like-for-like sales (LFL) growth for the quarter more
than halved to 6% due to a high-base effect from last year, when
it was aided by high inflation and "unusually" good weather,
according to the company.
    LFL sales for the first nine months of the year grew to
8.6%.
    The number of stores rose by 10% on the year to 10,906, with
Zabka adding 266 new stores in the third quarter. 
    "By the end of the year, we aim to open about 1,100 stores
in Poland and Romania, and achieve increase of sales in existing
locations in the expected range of 7.5-9%," said CEO Tomasz
Suchanski cited in a statement.
        The group had 10,014 shops at the end of 2023. It had
said it saw potential for about 19,500 stores in Poland, and
planned to open 4,500 new units between 2004 and 2028.
    The firm, one of Poland's most recognisable brands, recently
joined its listed rivals Dino  DNP.WA , and Eurocash  EUR.WA  on
Warsaw bourse in a 6.45-billion-zloty IPO. 
    
($1 = 4.0040 zlotys)

 (Reporting by Mateusz Rabiega; Editing by Janane Venkatraman
)
 ((Mateusz.Rabiega@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 67 57;))