The total turnover of the 12 modern retailers in Romania rose last year by 14% reaching EUR 9.94 billion, according to the official data submitted by the companies to the Finance Ministry, cited by local Profit.ro.

The retailers included Kaufland, Carrefour, including Artima, Lidl Discount, Metro Cash&Carry, Auchan, Mega Image, Selgros Cash&Carry, Penny Market, Profi, Cora, Billa, and Real. Their net profit doubled reaching EUR 262 million.

Kaufland and Lidl, both part of the German group Schwarz, have a 30% market share, with an aggregate turnover of EUR 3 billion.

All the retailers reported increases in their turnovers with rates between 1% and 40%. It was the first year when five retailers saw turnovers above EUR 1 billion. These included Kaufland, Carrefour, Lidl, Metro, and Auchan.

Most companies also had higher profits. The only company which continued to record losses was French retailer Cora.

The growth in the retail sector is mainly related to the VAT cut on food from 24% to 9%, on June 1, 2015. This led to an 8.9% increase in domestic consumption last year.

The number of employees in the sector went up by 7% last year reaching over 72,590.

The modern retail included over 1,700 stores in 2015. Kaufland ranked first, with a turnover of over EUR 2 billion, followed by Carrefour and Lidl.

editor@romania-insider.com