Auchan operator closes 2006 with revenues of 19m-euros

Revenues of MGV Distri-Hiper, the operator of the French-owned network Auchan in Romania, stood at 19 million euros last year, after the company opened its first hypermarket on the local market in November 2006, according to the financial report of the Auchan group. MGV Distri-Hiper Romania closed 2006 with four million-euro losses. The French retailer holds 29% of MGV Distri-Hiper’s share capital, with the remaining shares being controlled by local partners. Total investments in setting up the first Auchan store in Romania, located in the Titan area of Bucharest amounted to around 40 million euros. The hypermarket has a 16,000 square-metre surface area including a shopping gallery with 70 stores and restaurants. Auchan will open three shopping centres in the second quarter of this year, in Targu-Mures, Cluj-Napoca and Pitesti, with the average investment per hypermarket standing at 40 million euros. The company will also open a second hypermarket in Bucharest, in the Berceni area, at the end of this year or in the spring of 2008 depending on how the work progresses.