Eurotorg, the largest food retailer in Belarus, increased EBITDA profit in 2018 to 195 million US dollars, a 7.1 per cent increase on 2017. Revenues increased by 15.3 per cent to 2.2 billion US dollars as the company pursued an aggressive policy of expansion.
“We set a new record for store openings, with 362 net new stores during the period, and continued to focus primarily on developing smaller-format stores in leased premises, in line with our capex-light expansion strategy,” said Andrei Zubkou, Eurotorg’s CEO.
“The business also diversified during the year, with the consolidation of our pharmacy chain, Magia, which had reached 100 stores by the end of 2018, as well as our e-commerce operations, E-dostavka.by and Gipermall.by. On a combined basis, the two online grocery services generated 3.6 million orders in 2018, putting Eurotorg among the leading online retailers not only in Belarus, but throughout Eastern Europe. We achieved the significant landmark of five per cent of total retail sales from e-commerce during the fourth quarter, and we expect e-commerce to continue growing rapidly for many years to come.”
Last year Eurotorg postponed a listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) citing poor market conditions. It would have been the first company from Belarus to list on the LSE.
“Eurotorg plans to revisit its IPO plans as soon as market conditions become more conducive to achieving a valuation that reflects the company’s true potential. In the meantime, the company’s strong free cash flows will allow it to continue executing on its growth strategy,” the company said at the time.
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