March 9 (SeeNews) - Greek toy retailer Jumbo said that its sales in Bulgaria increased by 45% on the year in the two months through February, in line with a strong start to the year for the entire group with average annual sales growth of 40%.
In February alone, the company's sales in Bulgaria were 37% higher than a year ago, Jumbo said in a press release on Wednesday.
Overall, the toy retailer's sales in 2022 grew by 14.12% year-on-year to 949 million euro ($1 billion). The group added that it is unable to predict the levels of consumer trading in the second half of the year, but based on available data, its guidance is for sales to rise 15% in 2023. With an estimated gross margin of some 54%, Jumbo expects net income of 270 million to 275 million in 2023.
Group sales growth will be boosted with the planned opening of a new hyper-store in each Romania and Cyprus as well as the launch of online sales in Romania.
On Wednesday, Jumbo's shareholders approved the management's proposal for the distribution of a one-off gross dividend of 1.155 euro per share, starting from March 27.
Jumbo, which operates nine stores in Bulgaria, said last month that its sales in the country rose 17% in 2022.
($ = 0.9477 euro)