Retailer Voli ended 2019 as the leading large-scale operator in Montenegro in terms of revenue and profit, a study has found.
According to data published by Bankar.me, Voli's turnover amounted to €240.3 million last year, up 5.02% year-on-year, putting it ahead of discounter Laković, which recorded €156.8 million (+9.76%) in sales.
Mercator-CG, which operates the Idea banner, saw a marginal drop in revenue (-0.5%) to €103.8 million.
The highest revenue growth (+18.74%) was recorded by the Domaća Trgovina group, which operates the Aroma Market and Conto banners, while Franca Marketi saw growth of +9.59%.
Profit Performance
The five major players in the market achieved an overall net profit of €13 million for the period, the study found.
Voli posted a full-year EBIT of €10.8 million (+15.18%), and an EBIT margin of 4.5%.
Mercator-CG posted EBIT of €2.76 million (+70.7%), and a margin of 2.7%, while Franca Marketi saw EBIT of €20.3 million (+26.3%) and a margin of 2.7%.
Domaća Trgovina doubled its EBIT last year, to €1.69 million, with an EBIT margin of 1.96%, while Lakovic posted EBIT of €0.5 million and EBIT margin of 0.34%.
If the performance of the major operators of the last five years is analysed, the top performers in terms of net profit were Voli (€19.9 million) and Laković (€19.7 million).
Wage Costs
The study also found that the average salary in the retail sector as of the end of 2019 was €381 per month, which was 4% higher than at the same time the previous year.
This is well below the average salary in the country, which stood at €515 as of the end of the year. The average salary in Montenegro has grown by just €16 in the past three years – by around 3%.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
