Last year was the third year in a row in the red for the company, which was the most profitable grocery retailer in 2010 by net profit per store.
The last few years have also taken a toll on the revenue, which only went up by 17% in 2008-2015 despite the rise in the number of stores from three to 11.
Cora’s revenue went up by less than 1% last year, when the retailer closed a store. Still, 2015 saw the food VAT cut from 24% to 9% as of June 1, which drove overall retail sales up by about 9%, largely because of sales of food and beverages. The other modern retail chains posted growth fueled by expansion by the consumer spending rebound.
Cora is the only modern grocery retail chain other than Real to have posted losses in 2015. The two are also the smallest such chains in Romania. Cora halted expansion in Romania at the end of 2013 because its French-Belgian shareholders were not happy with the local performance. (EUR1=RON4.4858)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)