Jeronimo Martins has insisted that its focus for near-term investment and expansion will remain firmly on Poland, even as it considers new markets with a view to entry in 2012.
The Portuguese retailer, which posted a 40% jump in profits for fiscal 2010 on Friday (18 February), has confirmed that it is currently evaluating other overseas markets that could potentially fuel future growth.
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The company declined to reveal which markets were under evaluation, but confirmed that market entry could be as early as 2012. “We are evaluating markets that would be suitable for expansion,” a spokesperson said.
However, the spokesperson emphasised that Poland was set to remain the company’s growth driver and that Jeronimo Martins’ expected its formats in the country to generate strong revenue growth for “years to come”.
Delivering its full-year results last week, Jeronimo Martins said that like-for-like sales in Poland rose 12% while total sales were up 29%. However, the company warned that weakening consumer sentiment could result in limited room for growth in the food retail sector.
Nevertheless, Jeronimo Martins is planning to invest EUR450m (US$614.6m) to EUR500m over the coming 12 months, up from EUR434m last year. The majority of this investment – 75% – is destined for the company’s Polish operations, where it will continue to drive space expansion, the company added.
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