Billa, the biggest supermarket operator on the Romanian
market, posted 288 million euros in sales last year, down 11%
against 2008, according to data supplied by the company.
The RON-denominated business saw a slight increase, by 2.5%
after the retailer opened 9 new stores last year, taking the
overall chain to 43.
German-held Billa, a division of trade group Rewe, remains no.
1 on the Romanian supermarket segment, ahead of Delhaize le Lion
retailer – operator of Mega Image – and of French-held Carrefour
Market. Delhaize sales amounted to an estimated 150 million euros
in 2009, while the business of Carrefour’s local supermarket
division stood at around 100 million euros.
Financial results for 2009 supplied by the Billa operator also
reveal an 18% decline in RON-denominated net profit against the
previous year, to 31.4 million RON. Expressed in euros, profit was
cut in half.
Last year, the Rewe group invested around 9 million euros in expansion of the Billa chain on the Romanian market, according to ZF estimates. The operator expanded via 1,000 square-metre stores, half as big as the stores opened in its first few years in business on this market, and almost exclusively targeted provincial cities.