The first six months of the year, Jeronimo Martins made a profit. The owner of Pingo Doce reported a 78.9% increase in profit. Net income was € 186 million, up from € 104 million in the same period in 2020, when the company reported a 36% drop in profits due to the impact of the pandemic.
Consolidated sales rose 6.3% to € 9.9 billion. The company says “strong numbers” in sales have increased profitability. EBITDA increased by 12.6% to 715 million euros. EBITDA “includes Covid-19-related costs of € 10 million, up from € 29 million recorded in the first half of 2020.
The investment amounted to 200 million euros, 60% of which was allocated by Biedronka. According to the group, the first half of the year “was a period of strong cash generation”, “which reached 82 million euros, further strengthening the balance sheet. Good management of working capital flows in the 1st half of the year also contributed to the achievement of the results.20, as shown in At the time, they were impacted by lower sales growth and an unfavorable calendar. ”The group’s flagship flag, Poland’s Biedronka, saw sales in local currency increased by 9 , 8%, with sales up 7.7%. In euros, sales reached $ 7 billion, an increase of 6.8% over the same period last year. ” With the pandemic and the subsequent relaxation of restrictive measures, the number of store visits increased. Biedronka has benefited from more opportunities to interact with consumers, “the group explains.
Looking at the second quarter of 2021 alone, sales in euros grew 9.8% to 3.6 million EBITDA rose 6% to 624 million euros. Between January and June, 53 stores were opened and 153 were renovated.
The Polish company Hebe recorded a 7.3% increase in sales to 123 million euros. In the second quarter, growth was 30.4% to 66 million. “Online sales have made a significant contribution to the overall performance of the company,” says the company, led by Pedro Soares dos Santos, and accounted for 14% of total sales for the quarter. “The brand is already testing its entry into new markets through its e-commerce platform,” he says.
“Depressive” consumption in Portugal
In Portugal, the company emphasizes that “consumption remained low due to a sharp drop in tourism activity.”
Pingo Doce sales also felt the limit on the number of people who can be in stores, as well as restrictions on restaurants and cafes and “low circulation in city centers.” Sales increased 4.6% to 1.9 billion euros per semester. In the second quarter, growth was 10.1% to € 993 million. Dynamism of Sales increased the operating leverage, while EBITDA increased by 29.2% to 112 million. Pingo Doce opened three stores in a semester and refurbished seven.
At Recheio, sales were similar to sales in the same period last year at € 398 million. Despite continued restrictions on restaurants and hotels, the banner benefited in the second quarter from restaurant reopening, “a slight recovery in tourism and a” better base to compare “than in the same period last year, leading to sales growth of 21.1 % up to 244 million euros.
In Colombia, Jeronimo Martins felt that the operating environment “has become increasingly challenging since April as the restrictions on pandemic control have tightened, albeit with less severity than in 2020.” The May protests in the country also “put pressure on the functioning of the market in some regions.” In local currency, Ara sales increased 20.9% semester, up 32.8% in the second quarter. In euros, semester sales were 473 million, an increase of 11.9%, and 237 million between April and June, an increase of 26.1%. In the first six months of 2021, Ara opened 41 new stores “in line with expansion targets.”
For the remainder of 2021, the group maintains the outlook presented in March, “although uncertainty remains about the evolution of the pandemic and the extent and depth of its impact on the economy in which we operate,” the CMVM said in a statement.
The group expects Poland to be the country with “the strongest base for stimulating domestic consumption.” In Portugal, Geronimo Martins notes that “recovery in 2021 is still highly dependent on the evolving health crisis, progress in the vaccination program and its impact on the domestic market and tourism recovery.” By the end of the year, the group plans to invest 700 million euros, 60% of which in Biedronka, “if the restrictive measures that may still be applied in the markets in which we operate do not affect the ability to fulfill” the plan. …
