Mougel, Auchan: Food retailers have become the best banking clients

Régis Mougel, CEO and one of the main shareholders of hypermarket network Auchan Romania, says the expansion of modern food retail on the local market is very likely to continue to be funded by banks. “Food retailers are the best clients for banks in the current context, of liquidity shortage on the financial market. We have stores whose cash registers are full of cash every day. Negotiations run more smoothly when it comes to a company with large amounts of liquidity, than in the case of, say, a real estate company, where you have to wait a few years before the business generates cash,” Mougel explained. The operator of the Auchan network in Romania, MGV Distri-Hiper SA, will invest around 40 million euros next year in opening two hypermarkets, in Constanta and Timisoara.