Profi Keeps Foot On Expansion Pedal

01.09.2014 By Cristina Roşca

Pawel Musial, chief executive of retailer Profi, says the network will add around 60 new supermarkets this year, the same as in 2013.

The company will keep up the expansion pace after it saw its revenue rise by 26% last year to EUR326 million. The growth was strictly fueled by expansion, considering the revenue per store fell by some 10% from EUR1.73 million in 2012 to EUR1.57 million, according with ZF calculations.

The network now includes 207 supermarkets and proximity stores, from 149 at the end of 2012.

Profi, a business owned by private equity firm Enterprise Investors, will expand further to gain market share and grab a rising percentage of the money Romanians hold for shopping as consumption stalls and purchasing power is still low.

“We know this will be a challenging year, but owing to the changes we made in 2013, to the end of slashing costs, 2014 will be a good year for us. We’ll continue to grow at a fast clip, opening a similar number of stores as last year,” Musial said.

Musial, 44, has run Profi’s Romanian operations for around three years and a half. Since he joined Profi, the chain has started expanding at quick pace, becoming the second largest retailer in Romania behind Mega Image.

“For 2014, I do not see any reasons for optimism as both the European economy and the global one are in the midst of a deep crisis and I can see this crisis in the shopping basket,” said Musial.

However, the company will further invest around EUR10-15 million to open new stores. Additionally, it will develop the logistic system of the chain. “After last year's opening of the new logistic center in Ploiesti and the vegetable and fruit platform near Bucharest, in 2014 we will further develop logistically. Moreover, some of our stores are already several years old, so we will embark upon a restoration process”.

(English version by Catalina Apostoiu)