Mercator Group wraps up 2012 with sales revenue comparable to the 2011 figure - Negative result largely result of write-offs

Mercator Group generated EUR 2.873 billion revenues in 2012, which is 100.04 percent more than in 2011. Instant measures introduced by the Mercator Group in the second half of last year included extensive efforts to cut costs, improve working capital, reduce debt, and reverse the negative marketing trends. As a result of proactive and more focused marketing activities, the drop of market share was stabilized in Slovenia and in Croatia, and saw increase in market shares in Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Montenegro. Rapid measures in the last quarter of last year also resulted in savings of EUR 10 million. This year, Mercator Group restructuring process continues. Mercator Group completed the business year with a loss of EUR 103.6 million, three quarters of which are accounted for by write-offs and impairments, Mercator said in a release.

With the instant measures in the second half of 2012, which also included suspending all non-urgent investment, stepping up the divestment process, and tapping the internal improvement potential, Mercator Group mapped out a new direction presented in the new strategic plans from late last year.

In debt management, Mercator Group considered the increase in refinancing risk in financial markets and signed with major banks an agreement to establish a new long-term structure of financing sources by mid 2013. This will improve the management of liquidity risk. In late January 2013, Mercator Group also successful completed the issue of commercial papers in the amount of EUR 20 million.

In 2013, Mercator Group will carry out a restructuring process which will allow reversing the negative trend in performance in the current year. Thus, the company will resume active implementation of measures to improve performance, which includes above all reorganization of the Group; centralization of business functions (especially in subsidiaries); stronger focus on the core activity; optimization of supply chain in logistics; optimization of the companies Intersport, Modiana, and M - Tehnika, d.d., including through transfer of activities of the subsidiaries in Slovenia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Croatia to Mercator's local companies; optimization of retail unit operations by greater focus on smaller store formats and shrinking the Getro retail units in Croatia; stepped up divestment of non-core assets; withdrawal from the Albanian market and further withdrawal from the Bulgarian market.

Despite the negative results in the last year, Mercator remains a financially solid company. The strategy mapped out and the set of key measures for this year provide a firm foundation for improvement of our performance in the future. Mercator will be focused more intensively on the core activity, placing the customers at the heart of all our efforts, the release reads.