Oct 2 (Reuters) - Polish convenience store group Zabka, which will this month undergo potentially the biggest initial public offering in Warsaw since 2020, expects to report higher margins this year, its finance chief said on Wednesday.
"Looking at the profitability of the first half of the year, it is expected that for the full year we will achieve EBITDA margin profitability that will be above the 12.4% we achieved in 2023," CFO Marta Wrochna-Lastowska told reporters.
Zabka's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation rose 17% to 2.83 billion zlotys ($729 million) in 2023.
The group plans to raise up to 6.45 billion zlotys for shareholders in its IPO this month. Zabka itself will not receive any of the funds raised.
"Given our cash generation capabilities, we simply had no need as a company to issue new shares at this time," Wrochna-Lastowska said, adding the company might consider such a possibility in the future.
Established in 1998, Zabka is one of Poland's most recognisable brands. Zabka's CEO Tomasz Suchanski said the group has more than 10,700 stores in Poland, which in addition to groceries sell coffee, hot-dogs and burgers.
The group's management sees big potential for further expansion in Poland and plan to open 4,500 stores between 2024 and 2028, bringing its network to about 14,500.
It said it sees potential for about 19,500 stores in Poland.
The group recently expanded into Romania and plans to open 50 stores there by the end of the year, Suchanski said.
Zabka has said that it aims to open more than 1,000 stores a year in the medium term in both Poland and Romania, and more than double its 2023 sales to end customers by 2028.
($1 = 3.8817 zlotys)
Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka and Anna Koper; Editing by Jan Harvey
Source: Reuters