Central & Eastern Europe news & analysis

ICA has released its first half results, reporting consolidated net sales increased by 3.9% to SEK58,627m (US$6.1bn). Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability was SEK2,490m (US$259m) while cash flow from operating activities was SEK4,737m (US$493m). CEO: good H1 but more to do Commenting on the results, CEO Per Strömberg said, “I can affirm that we have had a good first ha...

We look at how SPAR International partners are investing in their store networks in Spain, Hungary and India. Spain: opens new stores and modernises existing stores In the last two months of Q2 2019, SPAR Spain opened three new stores in Gran Canaria, Mérida and Tossa del Mar. The stores have added 1,800 sq. m of space to the retailer’s overall store network. SPAR will continue to invest...

Ahold Delhaize has reported its results for the first half of 2019, with net sales at constant exchange rates increasing by 1.5% to €32.2 bn (US$36.1 bn). Net income at constant exchange rates decreased by 9.1% to €769m (US$861.0m). USA: net sales at constant exchange rates +0.7%, online +13.7% In the USA, which accounts for around two thirds of the retailer’s business, net sales at constan...

Mail.ru formed a joint venture (JV) with state-run bank Sberbank to create a leading Russian O2O (online-to-offline) services platform focused on food and transportation. This follows the signing of a joint venture between Mail.ru and Alibaba in 2018 that will help the former create a Russian-owned online retail ecosystem . What is a retail ecosystem? This is a new model in ret...

Tesco Poland is restructuring its operations in Poland to focus on its best performing smaller store formats. This will see the retailer, as part of a three-year transformation programme, sell eight of its largest hypermarkets and downsize other stores. Tesco will sell eight hypermarkets… Tesco is finalising the sale of hypermarkets in Bydgoszcz (ul. Torunska), Gdynia (ul. Nowowiczlinska), ...

Jerónimo Martins’ group net sales increased 10.3%, with like-for-like (LFL) sales up 7.8% in Q2, enhanced by the Easter calendar effect. Consolidated sales in first half of 2019 increased 5.7% to €8.9 bn, 3.9% contributed by its LFL performance. Positive sales performance Positive Q2 results were seen across the company, influenced by the calendar change relating to Easter and intense promo...

Magnit launched a 12-month transformation programme in September 2018. A key aim of the strategy is to return its like-for-like (LFL) performance to growth, following two years of decline. It is looking to do this by developing a new customer value proposition (CVP), which puts a strong focus on the shopper, and a refined pricing and promotional structure. It reached that aim when it reported L...

Carrefour continued to spotlight the positive effect of its strategic initiatives as it announced its Q2 results, which showed an acceleration in group like-for-like sales growth. The retailer said like-for-like sales growth was 3.9% in Q2, versus 3.2% in Q1, driven by its supermarkets and convenience stores in France and operations in Eastern Europe and Latin America. Hypermarkets hold back p...

Germany-based Metro reported like-for-like sales increased by 3.4%, while total sales rose by 2.8% to €7.6bn (US$8.47bn) in its third quarter. The company said the growth was driven by all regions, excluding Russia. EBITDA, excluding earnings contributions from real estate transactions, totalled €316m (US$351.2m) in the same period, a rise of €11m on the previous year. Delivery sales account f...

Les Mousquetaires Poland has said its new strategy is helping it to win in the country. In the first half of the year the company said it generated turnover of PLN3.72 bn (US$981.7m), a rise of 5% on 2018’s figure. Broad based growth seen at the company Les Mousquetaires Poland said it had generated a turnover of PLN2.5 bn (US$659.8m) at its Intermarché banner and PLN1.2 bn (US$316.7m) at B...