Biedronka cuts down plans on lower sales

Jeronimo Martins Polska, the owner of Poland's biggest discount store network Biedronka, has said that it would open fewer stores than it had initially planned in Q4 2014. “[The network's] expansion in 2014 will be carried out only until the end of October and the investment program for this year will be accordingly reduced,” the company's statement read. In Q3 2014 Biedronka recorded a 1.3 percent year-on-year drop in like-for-like sales. Total sales amounted to €2.16 billion, which is 10.9 percent more than in Q3 2013. In January-September 2014, Biedronka's like-for-like sales fell by 1.2 percent y/y. Total sales grew by 9.7 percent to €6.19 billion. Since the beginning of 2014, the network opened 149 stores. It had a total of 2,527 shops as of the end of Q3.