Louis Araujo, CEO of Jeronimo Martins, said that “the business (Carrefour in Poland) is run as a franchise, so we wondered whether such a solution could also be suitable for us. I think it would be good for the Polish consumer.”
Are there talks regarding the takeover of some of the assets?
– This is a question we should direct to the company’s financial director – he said.
Trzaskowski talked about this store. “We will fight against slyness”
War in the Middle East. The owner of Biedronka spoke out
Pedro Soares dos Santos also referred to the threat of rapidly rising fuel prices.
Prezes Jeronimo Martins Pedro Soares dos Santosthe owner of Biedronka, noted that the conflict in the Middle East affects the company’s operations “immediately.” This includes: about rapidly rising fuel prices.
-Right now the fuel situation affects our company’s operations immediately – noted Jeronimo Martins, president of Pedro Soares dos Santos, during the presentation of the annual results.
The president of the owner of Biedronka added that the company is trying to amortize fuel prices. He added that inflation in discount stores is more a matter of speculation than reality.
In Poland we have deflation. In Portugal, inflation is practically unnoticeable, he said.
The president about the drop in prices in the shopping basket
Biedronka noticed the first signs of a real decline in prices in the shopping basket, i.e. deflation, at the end of 2025.
However, Pedro Soares noted that maintaining the EBITDA margin (expressing the ratio of operating profit to sales before taking into account, among others, taxes or interest) will be “very difficult”. Biedronka’s EBITDA margin was 6.9% last year. compared to 6.7 percent in 2024.
Fuel prices and loan prices are rising. We see that this can be very significant for both us and our suppliers. We will be measuring it throughout this year. There is a risk that the EBITDA margin will be lower – admitted CEO Jeronimo Martins.
Representatives of Jeronimo Martins added that the company is better prepared for rapid changes in the costs of doing business since the COVID-19 experience.
Currently, the fuel situation has an immediate impact on our company’s operations, noted Pedro Soares dos Santos, president of Jeronimo Martins, during the presentation of the annual results.
In March, after the outbreak of the conflict in the Middle East, there was a sudden increase in the prices of gasoline and diesel at gas stations. This is the result of the increase in oil prices caused by the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. E-petrol.pl analysts recorded an increase in the average price of Pb95 gasoline by PLN 31 compared to March 11, 2026. The price of high-octane gasoline increased by 30 cents. The scale of the increase in diesel prices is PLN 17 per liter during the week.
Average fuel prices at stations in Poland are as low as PLN 6.79 per liter of Pb95 petrol and PLN 7.76 per liter of diesel oil.
Plany Jeronimo Martins at 2026 r.
In 2026, a large part of Jeronimo Martins’ new investments will be focused on Poland. The company reported that 50 percent will invest funds for investments on the Vistula River. The plans include, among others: opening of 120 new stores under the Biedronka brand.
At the same time, 35 new branches are to be established in Slovakia. Jeronimo Martins also plans to expand the operations of the Pingo Doce brand, a chain of grocery stores which, due to their common ownership, are sometimes popularly referred to as the “Portuguese Biedronka”. The company intends to open 10 new stores in 2026.
From Lisbon, Adam Sieńko, journalist of WP Finanse and money.pl
