Frederic Bellon, the new CEO of retailer Auchan Romania, estimates higher turnover in 2014, given that the company’s sales were up in the first months of the year, compared to the same period in 2013.

“We have won customers, we have sold more products and the value of sales is slightly higher than last year. This is because the business model is different, we sell more products to more customers, at lower prices. For the full year, we expect an important increase in turnover,” said Bellon, quoted by local Mediafax.

The new CEO also maintains the objective announced in October last year by the former head of the retailer, Patrick Espasa, to turn to profit by the end of next year.

Auchan, who bought competitor Real from German group Metro in late 2012, now operates 31 stores in Romania. The company’s sales more than doubled last year to EUR 1.04 billion, but it posted a loss of EUR 15 million.

Frederic Bellon took over as CEO of Auchan Romania in early-May.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com