February 8 (SeeNews) - Slovenian retailer Mercator [LJE:MELR] said it plans to generate a consolidated net profit of 55.3 million euro ($61.7 million) in 2016.
Mercator Group is planning to generate revenues of 2.6 billion euro this year, the company said in a bourse filling on Friday following the adoption of its 2016 business plan which outlines the improvement of profitability and cash flows from operating activities (EBITDA) as key objectives.
The Group plans growth in revenues on all markets except for Croatia mostly due to the closure of the remaining retail units in the first half of 2015. The highest generated revenue will be seen in Slovenia - 56.2%, and Serbia - 35.7%, as a result of the opening of new sales units, while an increase in rental income is planned in Bosnia.
In June 2014, Croatian privately-held food-to-retail concern Agrokor closed the acquisition of a 53.12% stake in Mercator. Following a buyout, the Croatian company later raised its stake in the Ljubljana-listed retailer to 80.75%. Agrokor's takeover of Mercator created one of the largest retail companies in Central and Eastern Europe. The merged entity has operations in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Slovenia.
In 2016, Mercator Group will allocate 34 million euro for investments, the Group noted, adding that a majority of the funds will be allocated for the refurbishment of existing stores in Slovenian and Serbia.
The company will also continue with the sale of non-operating assets in line with the real property monetization project. If the monetization project is completed, the proceeds will be allocated to cover the costs and taxes, and the rest will be used for debt repayment, Mercator said.
The Group's net financial debt is planned at 799 million euro at the end of the year.
Mercator said earlier it expects to turn to net profit of 59.6 million euro in 2015 on revenues of 2.8 billion euro.
($= 0.896275 euro)
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