LPP to invest in e-tail and more stores as it targets new markets

Polish fashion retailer LPP said on Thursday it planned to boost spending in 2019 and 2020 and expand its online business. The owner of brands such as Reserved and Cropp has expanded into new markets, and in 2019 plans to enter Bosnia and Herzegovina and Finland, as well as launching an online store for all European Union countries and Ukraine.

“Our ambitious plans of developing our brands and promoting Polish creative ideas abroad even on the most demanding markets are the right direction for our operations,” Chief Executive Marek Piechocki said in its annual report.

The company plans to increase capex to 860 million zlotys ($226.5 million) in 2019 and to 980 million zlotys in 2020, with most of the money invested in shops.

While good weather helped boost like-for-like sales in the first quarter, the company does not expect double-digit growth to continue for the rest of the year and is sticking to its single-digit target, deputy chief Przemyslaw Lutkiewicz told reporters.

“Like-for-like sales in the first quarter were higher, over 11 percent, but that is because we had better weather than the previous year,” Lutkiewicz said. “But looking now at the high base for April, and with May still ahead of us, we see that there will definitely not be such dynamic growth. As a result of this we are maintaining the single-digit target.”

The company reported full-year net profit of 505 million zlotys, up from 441 million zlotys the previous year.