Studenac’s Revenue Increased by 22 Percent Last Year, Further Network Expansion Planned

As a result of two acquisitions last year, the Zagreb retail chain Decentia and the Slovenian company Kea, which increased its retail network by 68 sales outlets, along with the opening of 140 new stores, Studenac ended 2024 with a very high sales revenue growth of 22 percent compared to the previous year, according to a statement.

The achieved sales revenue amounted to 816.5 million euros. Last year’s adjusted EBITDA grew at a slightly lower rate than sales growth, specifically by 18 percent, amounting to 78 million euros, while the net profit figure has not been disclosed.

– Studenac has solidified its position as the largest retail chain in Croatia by the number of stores in 2024. Additionally, through the acquisition of Slovenian Kee, we have demonstrated our ambition related to expansion outside Croatia. We have also started opening new locations there and introduced the Stu.MARKET brand stores to local customers – emphasized Michał Seńczuk, CEO of Studenac.

For this year, Studenac plans to open more than 160 new stores in Croatia and Slovenia, which will increase its retail network to over 1,600 sales outlets. The ultimate goal is to reach 3,400 stores by the end of 2028.

Furthermore, in September of this year, Studenac will open a new distribution center in Velika Gorica with a total area of approximately 36,000 square meters, where it will employ over 500 staff. Simultaneously, in the first half of 2026, it plans to complete the construction of a new distribution center in Dugopolje. The facility will span about 23,000 square meters, and the contract for the start of the project was signed in March 2025.

Throughout last year, Studenac was intensively preparing for an IPO, which was abruptly canceled in November with the explanation that ‘challenging circumstances’ prevail in the capital market, even though the capital market was experiencing stable growth at that time. Given that, in the meantime, particularly challenging circumstances have indeed followed in the capital market over the past two months, it is hard to believe that Studenac’s IPO will be revisited in the foreseeable future.

Previously, we reported that one of the largest global private equity funds, CVC Capital Partners, was interested in acquiring Studenac from the Enterprise Investors fund, but that was also abandoned.