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“The expansion in Poland over the last two years has increased Maxima Grupė’s 2019 total revenue up to EUR 3,993 million. However, profitability decreased due to investments in better prices for our customers. We focused on opening new stores and increasing the number of self-service checkouts,” said Maxima Grupė’s CEO Jurgita Šlekytė.

In 2019, Maxima Grupė’s revenue reached EUR 3,993 million and compared to the same period last year increased by 15.7%. Revenue growth was partly driven by the acquisition of Polish retail chain Stokrotka in April 2018. Taking into account Stokrotka’s 2018 full-year revenue (pro-forma), the consolidated revenue of Maxima Grupė grew by 7.0%.

Maxima Grupė’s consolidated like-for-like (LFL) revenue grew by 3.4%, while in 2018 LFL revenue growth was 1.6%. LFL revenue increased by 2.9% in the Baltic states and by 4.7% in Poland and Bulgaria (in local currency).

The highest revenue growth was recorded in Poland (+15.2% pro-forma) and Bulgaria (+12.6%), meanwhile among the Baltic states – in Latvia (+7.7%). In 2019, Maxima Latvija became the market leader with a 25.5% market share in the country. In Lithuania and Estonia, revenue growth was moderate, 4.4% and 0.9% respectively. E-commerce sales increased by 32.3% and accounted for 1.7% of total sales in the Baltic states.

Maxima Grupė’s EBITDA in 2019 (excluding IFRS 16 impact) was EUR 234.5 million and increased by 4.9% compared to 2018. This growth was mainly due to the improved results of Stokrotka, while the total EBITDA of the companies in the Baltic states and in Bulgaria decreased. In 2019, Maxima Grupė’s companies continued to invest in better prices for the customers, which resulted in 0.6% decrease in EBITDA margin (excluding IFRS 16 impact). Considering the IFRS 16 impact, Group’s EBITDA for the year 2019 amounted to EUR 333.4 million.

In 2019, the companies of Maxima Grupė invested EUR 131.3 million into fixed assets, 49% more compared to 2018. Approximately 60% of all investments mainly went to the opening of 101 new stores (74 of them were Stokrotka in Poland). The total number of stores reached 1,230.

During 2019, 36 stores were reconstructed (20 of them in the Baltic states), and the largest Maxima store in Lithuania (10,000 sq. m.) was reconstructed in the shopping mall Akropolis in Vilnius. The Group also continued to invest in strategic projects, such as increasing the number of self-service checkouts (57% of stores in the Baltic states had them at the end of the year), the use of electronic price labels and other initiatives.

The net debt/EBITDA ratio (excluding IFRS 16 impact) decreased to 1.4x (compared to 1.6x in 2018). Considering the IFRS 16 impact, at the end of the year, the net debt/EBITDA ratio for 2019 was 3.0x.

The IFRS 16 impact is further disclosed in the consolidated financial statements of Maxima Grupė.

UAB Vilniaus Prekyba, the sole shareholder of Maxima Grupė, approved stand-alone and consolidated financial statements of 2019, including profit distribution project, according to which as per dividend policy the amount of EUR 86.6 million was allocated for the payment of dividends.

Late in 2019 the first news about the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak in China emerged. Although the full impact of COVID-19 on the business of Maxima Grupė is still uncertain, the liquidity of the Group is adequate. Maxima Grupė monitors the situation, takes all necessary preventive measures and maintains safe environment for its employees and customers. Furthermore, despite the slowdown in the supply chain, the companies of Maxima Grupė are striving to ensure a sufficient amount of goods on the shelves, and by adapting and reacting to the changing situation are expanding e-commerce services.