Slovenian food retailer Mercator revealed yesterday (13 November) that it generated a loss in the first nine months of the year despite flat sales.
Mercator booked a loss of EUR22m (US$27.96m) in the first nine months, down from a net profit of EUR27m in the comparable period of last year.
The company blamed the loss on the economic slowdown that has hit its domestic market. “Economic slowdown in the region, persisting debt crisis, drop in Slovenian import and export, and negative changes in exchange rates in Serbia had a strong negative impact on Mercator Group performance,” the company said in a statement.
Net sales rose by 0.7% to EUR2.1bn, driven by a 4.4% increase in international sales which offset a 2% decline in Slovenia.