Empik with PLN 4.2 bln in GMV in 2024, up 15 pct y/y; aims for double-digit sales growth in '25
Polish bookstore chain and marketplace retailer Empik recorded a 15 percent year-on-year increase in total sales value (GMV) to PLN 4.2 billion (EUR 988.3 mln) in 2024; with an EBITDA up by over 25 percent year on year to PLN 311 million (EUR 73.2 mln), the group said in a press release. The target for 2025 is to further improvement of profitability and a double-digit sales growth.
"For the first time ever, the group's total sales value (GMV) level exceeded a record PLN 4 billion, an increase of 15 percent on 2023. (...) Furthermore, even taking into account the new financing raised at the end of 2024, we maintain low debt and a very good financial position," said Empik's CFO and member of the management board Piotr Swiatek, quoted in the press release.
"We also have a strong first quarter of 2025 behind us. Such strong foundations allow us to kick into sixth gear in the implementation of our strategy, and for this year we forecast even faster growth rates across all group businesses," he added.
As stated in the press release, in 2025, the Empik group will continue to pursue its strategy of building a leading multicategory player. The goal for this year is to further improve profitability and double-digit sales growth, the main driver of which will be, among other things, the growing share of the marketplace channel.
"There is no other player combining omnichannel and multicategory offerings so effectively," said Empik group's CEO Ewa Szmidt, quoted in the press release.
"Adding to this the prospect that we are just getting up to speed in some categories, the growth potential for the entire group is enormous. We plan to maintain a growth rate of 15-20 percent in the next few years, which means that we will soon be increasing sales by PLN 1 billion a year," she added.
The group reported that its strategic priorities in 2024 included further scaling and technological development of the Empik.com platform, with particular focus on the marketplace channel, expansion of its offer in lifestyle categories, and expansion of its stationary network.
The share of online sales in the group's GMV in 2024 exceeded 50 percent, and the marketplace channel was responsible for more than 40 percent of all Empik.com sales.
In 2024, Empik.com's platform recorded nearly 30 percent growth, which, as the group reported, means several times the growth rate of the entire market.
CEO Szmidt said that GMV in the marketplace segment should exceed PLN 1 billion (EUR 235.3 mln) this year.
Empik Group operates on the retail market in Poland, with an omnichannel model combining a network of 370 stationary stores with the offer available on Empik.com, including the marketplace and through a mobile application.
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