LISBON (Reuters) – The Portuguese store Jeronimo Martins (JMT. LS) said Wednesday that its net profit had fallen by more than a third in the first half and warned of the difficult times ahead, as the full effect of the coronavirus pandemic has occurred. become clear.
The net source of revenue fell 36.2% to 104 million euros ($122.4 million) over the period, he said, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell 4.9% to 635 million euros, as the pandemic and similar blocking measures increased operating costs. .
“In Portugal, the economy suffers from its overexposure to the tourism sector and the consequences of serious restrictions on retail activity,” said Ceo Pedro Soares dos Santos.
“These points have had an immediate effect on the profitability of our business models.”
Sales at the time increased by 4.6% to 9.3 billion euros, with a 7.8% increase in revenue in Poland, where the company’s Biedronka unit is the largest food store, offsetting a 2.9% drop in its national supermarket chain Pingo Doce.
The company said in a statement that uncertainty about the progression of the pandemic remains very high and that it is too early to estimate the actual effect it will have on the whole year.
“I am that the next few months will continue to be difficult,” Soares dos Santos said.
Jerome’s overall EBITDA margin fell to 6.8% from 7.5% in the first part of 2019, while Biedronka’s EBITDA margin rose from 9.2% to 9%.
In the first six months of the year, the company made investments of 142 million euros, compared to 238 million euros invested in it in 2019.
Reporting through Sérgio Gon’alves and Catarina Demony; Edited through David Goodman and Jan Harvey
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