Most Romanian retail chains turned a profit in 2013, with Auchan being the exception

Newsroom 08/06/2014 | 19:14

Most of the big Romanian retailers had a profitable 2013, with the biggest winnings going to Kaufland, Carrefour, Mega Image and Penny Market. Meanwhile, Auchan recorded losses after taking over 20 Real units. Financial data for Lidl, Cora and Metro have not yet been published, writes Mediafax.

2013 was an interesting year for retail in Romania: modern retail surpassed traditional commerce for the first time; together, the chains opened 270 new stores, Carrefour and some of it competitors entered the online market and Auchan closed the biggest retail deal in Romania’s history by taking over Real.

Kaufland, currently the owner of the biggest hypermarket network on the local market, registered a 20 percent increase in net profit last year, to RON 331 million (EUR 75 million). Klaufland’s turnover is up 13 percent, to RON 7.26 billion (EUR 1.64 billion). Last year, the German chain opened 8 new hypermarket and since the start of the year two new ones, bringing its network to a total of 91 stores. Kaufland maintains its position as leader of the pack in terms of sales.

Kaufland is followed by Carrefour who’s profits went up 28 percent year-on-year, to RON 144.3 million (EUR 33 million) and a turnover of RON 4.29 billion (EUR 970 million), similar to the one in 2012. In 2013, Carrefour opened 52 new stores. For 2014, the French retailer announced it will focus on expanding it’s proximity network of Express units and introduced two new formats: Supeco and Contact.

Mega Image comes in third, with a new profit of RON 55.1 million (EUR 12.5 million) up 18 percent. Mega Image’s turnover increased 33 percent, to RON 2.33 billion (EUR 530 million). The Belgian retail chain opened 104 units last year: 37 Mega Image stores, 66 Shop&Go, AB Cool Food. In 2014, the company will continue to expand in Bucharest and will open a new storage facility.

The Profi chain doubled its profit in 2013, from RON 13.1 million to RON 26.8 million (EUR 6 million), while turnover saw a 26 percent increase to RON 1.45 billion (EUR 330 million). The retailer opened 63 units in 2013 and currently has a 226-unit network, hoping to maintain the same rhythm of expansion in 2014.

Billa remained profitable in 2013, even though the profits dropped 40 percent to RON 2.17 million (EUR 490,000). The turnover however increase 7.3 ercent to RON 1.35 billion (EUR 307 million). There were 10 Billa opening last year and one closing.

Rewe Romania, the retailer that owns Penny Market and XXL Mega Discount, managed to regain profitability last year with a net profit of RON 557,000 after suffering losses in 2012 of RON 6.58 million. The turnover grew 13.8 percent to RON 2.19 billion (EUR 426 million) and currently Rewe operates 157 stores: Penny Market – 149, XXL Mega Discount – 8. The company wants to open 35 new Penny Market stores in the next 2 years.

Out of all the retailers that published their financial date, Auchan Romania is the only that recorded losses – RON 90.5 million (EUR 20.5 million) as a result of buying 20 Real stores. Currently, the French retailer has 31 units in 18 cities and 2 units currently in the construciton phase. Auchan ended 2013 with a turnover of RON 4.6 billion, twice the sum of 2012.

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