Slovenia’s Mercator Group has posted €2.49 billion in turnover for full year 2016. The group's performance is 4.5% lower than that of 2015, with the company citing a number of factors for this decline.
These include the focus on core business, the sale of Modiana and Intersport, and the temporary closure of a larger number of stores due to renovations.
Significantly, Mercator saw a return to growth in terms of market share last year. Large investments, primarily in the renovation of the retail network and in fixed assets, increased by 16.9% compared to 2015, resulting in sales growth in all renewed stores.
Mercator Group concluded the fiscal year 2016 with a €72.7 million net loss.
The most important markets for the company remain Slovenia and Serbia. On the Slovenian market, Mercator recorded a 4% decline in revenue due to divestments completed in 2015. Revenues have decreased in Serbia (6.5%), due both to divestments of non-core activities and the closure of stores based on the decision of the local regulator.
There was also a decline in revenue in Croatia (-9.3%) and Bosnia and Herzegovina (-3.7%). In Montenegro, where a new neighbourhood store format was launched in 2016, revenues increased by 6.8 year-on-year.
Commenting on the results, the chairman of the Board of Directors, Tomislav Čizmić, pointed out that the operations of Mercator are stable and not directly related to the difficulties of its owner, Croatian retail group Agrokor.
