April 26 (SeeNews) - Slovenian retailer Mercator [LJE:MELR] said on Thursday its consolidated net loss widened to 184.4 million euro ($224.7 million) in 2017, from a loss of 72.7 million euro a year earlier.
Adjusting for the negative effect of non-recurring, one-off events, Mercator Group ended last year with a profit of 6 million euro, it said in a filing with the Ljubljana bourse.
In 2017, Mercator's sales revenue totalled 2.15 billion euro, down by an annual 2.2%, due mainly to changes in the accounting policy of the group.
In Slovenia alone, revenue suffered a 1.6% drop to 1.2 billion euro, as a result of lower revenue in wholesale due to a decrease in transit and decrease in sales in the programme Agro equipment.
In Serbia, revenue fell 6.9% to 745.9 million euro, especially on account of closing down of some stores in compliance with the decision by the local market regulator.
In Croatia, Mercator's revenue decreased by 5.1% year-on-year to 22.5 million euro, as a result of disposing of inventories in accordance with the contract for the sale of non-core business in 2016.
In Bosnia and Herzegovina, where Mercator's retail operations returned last year, revenue rose 133.4% to 35.4 million euro. In Montenegro, Mercator saw an increase in revenue by 7.7% to 123.3 million euro.
At the group level, revenue in core activity of retail increased for the first time since 2011 relative to the preceding year, topping the 2016 figure by 2.5%.
Mercator Group revenue in 2018 is budgeted at 2.4 billion euro. By 2021, revenue will increase by 3% to 2.5 billion euro.
"The focus of the Mercator Group remains on the core business, its key goal remains improvement of profitability", the retailer said.
The company's capital expenditures decreased 21.6% on the year to 70.9 million euro in 2017.
Croatia's ailing concern Agrokor holds a 69.57% stake in Mercator. Mercator Group employed 20,801 at the end of 2017, up 2.2% from a year earlier.
($=0.821291 euro)
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