May 23 (SeeNews) - Slovenian retailer Mercator [LJE:MELR] said on Wednesday it booked a consolidated net profit of 1.9 million euro ($2.2 million) in the first quarter, compared to a restated loss of 4.9 million euro in the same period last year.
Consolidated revenues rose 1.3% on the year to 515.8 million euro in the three months through March, the retailer, which has operations also in Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia, and Montenegro, said in its Q1 2018 financial report filed with the Ljubljana bourse.
Mercator Group's revenue in the core activity of retail expanded by 8.8% relative to the comparable period of last year, to 387.8 million euro.
Slovenia and Serbia were Mercator's most important markets, where revenue in retail increased 3.4% and 1.9%, respectively. Re-establishment of retail operations in the market of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 2017 also had a positive effect on Mercator Group revenue, the company said.
Mercator's consolidated EBITDA reached 25.8 million euro, topping the comparable last year's figure by 36.5%.
"Mercator Group thus remains focused on its core activity, and further improvement of profitability remains its key goal", the retailer said.
Capital expenditure in the first quarter dropped 46.3% on the year to 7.2 million euro.
The Mercator Group employed 20,640 at the end of March, up 2.6% on the year.
Croatia's ailing concern Agrokor holds a 69.57% stake in Mercator.
Mercator companies reported until and including June 9, 2017, a total of 43.8 million euro of receivables by the Agrokor Group companies. In January 2018, a court in Zagreb recognized and confirmed all reported receivables.
($=0.853553 euro)
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