December 4 (SeeNews) - The Bulgarian unit of Danish home furnishing retailer JYSK said on Monday that it grew its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 60.2% to 30.3 million levs ($16.8 million/15.5 million euro) in the 2022/2023 fiscal year ended August 31.
The strong performance was backed by by a 19.1% annual rise in turnover to 601.3 million levs, with client numbers in Bulgaria rising 17.8%, JYSK Bulgaria said in a press release.
The figures include both retails sales and the activities of the company's distribution centre in Bozhurishte Industrial Zone near Sofia, which also serves the Turkish market.
JYSK Bulgaria opened five new stores in the country in 2023, growing its store count to 52. It also invested in the upgrade of seven stores, which had been opened prior to 2018.
In the 2023/2024 fiscal year, the retailer plans to continue its expansion, opening at least as many new stores, according to Alex Bratu, country manager of JYSK for Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey. In addition, a third store in the Turkish capital Istanbul will be opened in December.
The global retail sector remains unpredictable as customers are still indecisive about their spending priorities. Nevertheless, inflation is on the decline, and supply chains are returning to normal. While operational costs remain elevated, a decrease is anticipated in the next year, JYSK Bulgaria noted.
"Despite the uncertainty that the world is currently facing, our long-term goal for growth and expansion remains unchanged," Bratu said.
(1 euro = 1.95583 levs)