Mercator posts EUR 22 million loss

Slovenia's largest food retailer Mercator said on Tuesday it had made a EUR 22 million loss in the first nine months of the year due to the weak economic climate that hit consumer spending.

The loss compares to net profit of 27 million euros in the same period of 2011.

- On all of Mercator's markets we see low or negative economic growth, high unemployment rates and consequently falling consumer purchasing power - Mercator, one of the small euro zone country's flagship companies, said in a statement.

Mercator had said in October it planned to return to profit in 2013 by cutting costs and improving productivity.

The retailer, which is planning to sell its units in Albania and Bulgaria, also operates stores in Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro and Serbia. Depreciation of more than 8 percent this year in the Serbian dinar had a negative impact on Mercator's nine-month profit.

Total sales rose by 0.7 percent to 2.1 billion euros, but sales in Slovenia fell by 2 percent. The country, which is struggling to avoid a bailout, is in recession and battling growing bad loans at local banks and a gap in public finances.

Sales outside Mercator's domestic market rose by 4.4 percent with the biggest growth in Bosnia, where sales were up by as much as 54 percent due to a takeover of Bosnia's retailer Drvopromet at the end of 2011.