The Slovenian retail chain Mercator achieved 2.873 billion euros in sales revenue in 2012, according to unaudited results, and a loss of 103.6 million euros, Mercator announced on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference and on the website of the Ljubljana Stock Exchange.
Revenue is 0.4 percent higher than in 2011. Only a quarter of the loss is from operations, while three-quarters of the recorded loss represent write-offs and revaluation of assets and real estate.
Despite the negative business result last year, Mercator remains a financially stable company that is implementing the business strategy initiated last year, with plans to focus more on its core activities, cost control, and indebtedness, so this year it can expect better results, said Mercator’s director Toni Balažič at the press conference.
Mercator’s net financial debt in 2012 was reduced by 7.6 percent and amounted to 1.008 billion euros at the end of the year. Total investments last year amounted to 67 million euros, which is a quarter less than planned, and the decline in Mercator’s market shares in the region has been halted, with Mercator holding an 8 percent share in Serbia and about 7.5 percent in Croatia, making it one of the leaders in the region, according to Mercator’s management.
In search of new sources of financing, Mercator successfully concluded the sale of commercial papers worth 20 million euros in January this year in agreement with banks, and through rationalizations within its business policy in the last quarter of last year, it achieved savings of about 10 million euros, stated Mercator’s management.
