Good day, and welcome to the Jerónimo Martins First Nine Months 2026 Results Conference Call. Today's call is being recorded. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Ms. Ana Luísa Virgínia, Chief Financial Officer of Jerónimo Martins Group. Please go ahead, madam.
Many thanks, Evan. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and thank you for joining this call to present our Results for the First Nine Months of 2026. As a reminder, on our corporate website, you can find the results release, this slide presentation, and a fact sheet for the period. Jerónimo Martins' performance in the first nine months of 2026 was solid and resilient against a very demanding backdrop across all our markets, particularly in Poland. The period was marked by heightened geopolitical uncertainty, continued food disinflation that turned to deflation in Poland, highly selective and promotion-driven consumers, intense competition, and rising costs, mainly fuel-related. To meet consumer needs and wants, all our banners reinforced their multidimensional efforts to combine competitive prices and relevant promotions, quality and attractiveness of the assortment with a strong dynamic of private brand launches, and the continuous improvement of the shopping experience.
This commitment strengthened our market positions and supported good volume growth. Group sales reached EUR 27.8 billion, an increase of 4.8%, or 3.8% at constant exchange rates, and like-for-like growth was 0.8%. Reflecting both a relentless commercial activity that also drove a better sales mix and a disciplined operational execution, EBITDA increased by 7.6%, ahead of sales growth to EUR 1.9 billion, with respective margin rising by 18 basis points to 7%. In Poland, Biedronka grew volumes by an impressive 5%. This cushioned the impact of significant basket deflation and drove our main banner to post solid sales and margin performance. Ara maintained a strong momentum, while Pingo Doce, Recheio, and Hebe continued to grow in demanding markets. During the period, the group opened 172 stores. At the end of September, and excluding IFRS 16, the group had a net cash position of EUR 118 million.
I will now turn to the income statement. Sales growth was driven by volumes given the low or negative basket inflation across all banners. Gross margin developed ahead of sales, supported by mix management and increasing scale of the operations. Operating costs remained tightly managed in the face of wage inflation and higher fuel-related expenses. As a result, EBITDA grew faster than sales. Higher net financial costs reflect the execution of the expansion program, with an impact on interest of capitalized operating leases and also foreign exchange fluctuations. Under IFRS 16, exchange differences on capitalized euro-denominated leases in Poland resulted in an accounting loss of EUR 12.5 million in the first nine months, compared with a gain of EUR 1 million in the same period of 2025. The strong appreciation of the Colombian peso also increased interest charges.
Other profits and losses totaled - EUR 135 million, reflecting items not directly linked to the banner's operating performance. These included write-offs related to refurbishment works, restructuring costs, and provisions or compensations associated with legal proceedings. This heading also comprised the allocation from the 2025 results of EUR 40 million to the Jerónimo Martins Foundation and the additional one-off contribution, also of EUR 40 million, to broaden the scale and reach of the response to social and humanitarian emergencies, as the ones that were caused by Storm Kristin in central Portugal earlier this year and by the earthquake recorded in Colombia on August 10. Cash flow before dividends was at -EUR 183 million. The main pressure came from working capital movements. Basket deflation limited sales growth in value, and together with the promotional dynamics, also affected working capital, namely stocks and net trade payables.
This performance should therefore be viewed in the context of deflation and normal business seasonality. Despite all the challenges, the group maintained a solid balance sheet. At the end of September, excluding IFRS 16, the consolidated net cash position stood at EUR 118 million. This financial solidity preserves the group capacity to invest in its strategic priorities while maintaining a prudent capital structure. Focusing now on sales performance, I will start with the group. All banners contributed to growth despite operating with low or negative basket inflation. I highlight Ara's strong delivery in the nine months and its impressive contribution to group's top-line growth. Turning to Biedronka. In Poland, muted consumer demand and very intense competition induced further food disinflation that turned to a 0.6% deflation in the third quarter.
Biedronka continued to offer its customers the best saving opportunities, reinforcing its value proposition through price and promotional leadership while evolving the assortment and improving its store infrastructure. To compensate for the extreme pressure of a significant basket deflation, Biedronka's team fought for volumes that grew 5% in the period. As such, total sales increased by 1.3% in local currency or 0.7% in euros, and market share stood strong at 30.8% year- to- date August, despite the nine months 0.4% decline on like-for-like. During the period, Biedronka opened one distribution center and 54 stores corresponding to 25 net additions and remodeled 155 locations. Moving to Hebe. Hebe operated in a significantly more competitive environment, which drove substantial basket deflation and places extra pressure on sales growth. The banner continued to refine its assortments, reinforcing differentiation across the store and online channels.
Sales increased by 4% in euros and by 4.7% in local currency, reaching EUR 469 million. Hebe opened 25 new stores in Poland during the period, continuing its selective expansion. Turning now to Pingo Doce. With households income facing increased pressure from rising fuel prices and interest rates, demand for low prices and promotions gained further traction. Pingo Doce leveraged its remodeled stores, innovative food solutions, and high impact promotional campaigns to drive top-line growth. Sales increased by 4.1% to EUR 4.1 billion, supported by volume performance against the backdrop of very low basket inflation. Like-for-like, excluding fuel, was 2.4% in the nine months, slowing down to flat in Q3 as basket inflation moderated further. Over the period, Pingo Doce remodeled 25 stores to the All About Food concept and opened two new locations.
At Recheio, the operating context has been challenging, reflecting the impact from the aftermath of Storm Kristin, which continues to affect communities, particularly in the center of Portugal, and by an HoReCa channel, further pressured by a particularly demanding comparison base during the summer periods. Despite this context, Recheio preserved the competitiveness of its offer across both HoReCa and traditional retail segments, and protected its market position. Sales increased by 1.5% to EUR 1.1 billion. Third quarter like-for-like sales declined by 1.6%, reflecting the challenging comparison base and softer market conditions. Finally, Ara. Following the devastating earthquake impact on some regions of the country, our colleagues in Colombia demonstrated remarkable resilience, commitment, and solidarity. Their determination and engagement were paramount to support our affected employees and for Ara to continue serving customers during an exceptionally difficult time, as households remained highly price conscious amid continued pressure on consumer spending.
As a result, also of this impressive collective efforts, impact on the company's performance was minimal. Moreover, the banner's discipline expansion and competitive offer tailored to local needs continue to strengthen its relevance in the Colombian food retail market. Sales maintained strong momentum throughout the period, increasing by 37.9% in euros, 20.6% in local currency to reach [EUR 3.2 billion. Like-for-like growth accelerated to 11% in the third quarter. During the nine months, Ara opened 85 stores, net 68, and 1 distribution center. Let us now look at profitability. Group EBITDA increased by 7.6% to EUR 1.9 billion or by 7.2% at constant exchange rates. This performance was supported by better sales and margin mix, by disciplined cost management, as well as by continuous efficiency improvements across all business areas. Volume growth and increasing scale also contributed, particularly at Ara.
Importantly, the banners maintained their price competitiveness and value to customers while protecting profitability. Looking at margin performance by business areas, every banner improved its EBITDA margin over the first nine months. At Biedronka, margin expansion came as a result of the combination of the positive mix effects of the ongoing work on the assortment and store layouts, the more efficient store processes, and strict cost management. At Hebe, profitability benefited from a stronger sales mix and increased productivity against the deflationary and highly competitive environment. In Portugal, solid sales performance and operating discipline at Pingo Doce and Recheio also helped protect margins despite mounting fuel-related costs. At Ara, margin expansion translated strong like-for-like growth, the increasing scale of the business, and disciplined cost control. Overall, the group EBITDA margin increased from 6.8% to 7%, an improvement of 18 basis points.
I conclude now with some final remarks. The market context remained extremely challenging throughout the period, particularly in Poland, where Biedronka faced sharp basket deflation, allowing Polish families to buy more for less money. Across markets, consumers remained focused on prices and promotions, competition was intense, and fuel-related costs increased. Our priorities were clear. We aim to drive sales growth through price and promotional leadership, assortment innovation, and a better shopping experience. At the same time, we work to protect margins through volume growth, mix management, cost discipline, and efficiency. This relentless work of our teams delivered solid volume growth across all our banners, stronger market positions, and improved EBITDA margins, demonstrating their ability and capacity to execute consistently while continuing to invest in the long-term strength of the businesses.
We will remain vigilant and flexible in a context where visibility is limited while continuing to place consumers at the center of our decisions, protecting price competitiveness, and pursuing profitable, sustainable growth. The outlook, as presented on July 29, remains unchanged. Thank you for your attention. Operator, I am now ready to take questions.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Please stand by as we compile a Q&A roster. Our first question comes from the line of Frederick Wild of Jefferies. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Good morning, Ana Luísa. Thank you so much for taking my question. My first question is if you could give some more details of the exit rate of Biedronka in September into October, that would be really helpful. And I guess beyond that, do you expect basket deflation to improve in Q4 as you annualize some of those price investments? My second question is on some of those margin mechanics, again, at Biedronka, whether the contribution from mix will continue in Q4 and whether we can actually see positive margins in Biedronka in Q4 despite that one-off you are annualizing against last year. Thank you.
Apologies, Fred. Good morning. I really apologize, but I was hearing you very badly. I understood that you were asking if basket deflation could improve, but the other two, and about the margin dynamics, but on the details, I really didn't hear you. Can you please repeat the questions?
Sorry, is this any better now?
Slightly better, yes.
Fabulous. The first question was just about the exit rate at Biedronka in September, October, and then whether you expect basket deflation to improve in Q4 as you annualize some of those price investments. The second question was just a bit more details about the margin mechanics at Biedronka in Q3 and how those are going to contribute to Q4 in terms of whether the mix accretion will continue and whether you can actually expect positive margins at Biedronka in Q4. Hopefully, that was a little bit clearer.
Sorry, Fred, are you hearing me?
I am hearing you now.
Okay. Sorry. I was saying, I understood your questions, but I was not hearing you properly because it was too low, the microphone probably. I was saying on the exit rates for Biedronka. in September, the foods basket deflation at Biedronka was slightly lower than in the average of the periods. But for Q4, and although we know that we have a soft comparison basis because Q4 last year, Biedronka already operated with deflation. But the dynamic that we are seeing in the markets, being it at the food PPI, on the supplier cost deflation and the competitiveness of the markets and the fact that the consumer has been very sensitive to prices, makes it difficult to inflect, I think, on Q4. This being said, I believe that probably basket deflation will slightly improve, but we will have to see how the markets react.
This is a quarter that is very important to us. The Christmas and New Year's Eve period is quite important. Biedronka performed very well last year, so we will be having a comparison in terms of volumes that is very challenging. Depending on the dynamics, of course, we may improve the performance versus Q3, but at this point, it is difficult to say. The only thing I am sure is that our colleagues will do their best to deliver the best like-for-like possible for the banner. On the margin dynamic.
Sorry. Just ask a quick follow-up clarification on that point. When you say the dynamics in September, do you mean it was slightly more deflationary in September than Q3 as a whole?
No, when I say improvement, it is that the deflation was slightly lower. Less negative.
Fantastic. Thank you.
Okay. On the margin dynamics, of course, I believe that in what refers to margin mix and the dynamics on the promotional activities, and the fight for efficiencies, this will be kept for Q4. The only thing that I would flag is that on gross margin for Biedronka, as you know, there was a one-off on the fourth quarter that will not take place this year. We will be having some challenging there. But I would say that overall, if Biedronka is able, in the current circumstances and with so much pressure from the food deflation and food basket deflation, and considering the competitive environments and even the muted consumer, if we are able to maintain margins, I believe it will be an impressive performance, in my opinion.
Some of the drivers for Q3 margin will maintain for Q4, but we will have a more challenging basis in terms of comparison versus last year.
Thank you. If I could just ask one more very quick question, and I realize I am going to sound like completely the bad guy here, but without wanting to sound like an utterly heartless analyst, of course your extra foundation contribution is proving a material help to those in need. As we update our models, how should we think about the extra payments going forward? Should we treat this as a one-off, or will this be a recurring cost into next year?
Fred, not a bad guy. I think that it is a very legitimate question. This is a one-off. The idea was really to reinforce the foundation resources for exceptional events like the ones that took place in two of the countries where we operate. This is not intended to be repeated in the following years.
Fantastic. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
Thank you. We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Richard Trainor of Bernstein. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hi. Good morning. I wanted to ask for your opinion on the Polish consumer, please. You mentioned the pressures that they are under. We also see economic indicators that suggest the consumer is quite healthy. Do you think that if inflation returns, the consumer will be able to spend more on food, and what do you think are the key dynamics there, please?
Hi, Richard. Good morning. It is true, and we have been saying this, and the numbers confirm it, that the Polish consumer has available income, has increased its savings. Of course, it is difficult to see, and we know that it has been able to buy more products for less money due to the deflation. We also see some trade-up. The question is that as all categories or some important categories are in deflation, this is difficult to translate in the sales growth in value. If there is an inflection and there will be food inflation, I believe that the consumer will still be able to buy the product, does not need to refrain it. But I believe that it is difficult to foresee how it will be the balance between the volumes, the trade-up, and of course, we have to also take into consideration the competition.
Because if we are in a very competitive market, everyone is feeling the pressure from the deflation. Not only the deflation, some of the pressures also in the cost headings, and this has to do with labor costs and the fuel-related costs. Transports, energy this pressures the P&L of the food retailers and induces a more competitive market. I would say overall that in principle, everything maintained equal, we should not expect really a trade-down or a different consumer if the prices go up. We do not know is how it will affect the volumes. But in terms of mix, I think that probably will not see a big difference.
Thank you very much. Just on those costs, have you already experienced the impact of rising fuel costs, or are there further headwinds from fuel costs that you expect?
We are already experiencing that, particularly in Europe, so in Portugal and in Poland, mainly on transport at this point. This, of course, will depend on how things progress, even on a geopolitical front, which is very difficult to predict, so it is very uncertain. But for now, we are already experiencing even double-digit increase on the transport costs.
That is very helpful. Thank you. One more, if I may. On Ara in Colombia, how sustainable is this performance? Would you expect Ara to continue to grow like-for-like, so this kind of level and continue to expand stores at this kind of rate?
On Ara, it is true that we do not provide guidance on like-for-like, but this is our expectation, that the company continues to grow sales, so to densify its stores. I think it is obvious because otherwise, first of all, we have a lot of stores that are entering the like-for-like because of expansion. Our expectations, and we continue to believe in the opportunity in the market, is that like-for-like will continue to be quite strong. For now, we expect to continue to expand the business. Yes.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Richard.
Thank you. We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Luís Colaço from JB Capital. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Yes. Good morning, everyone. Thanks for the presentation. A couple of questions from my side. The first one is regarding your basket deflation in Q3, if you can give us a figure about the basket deflation. My second question also related to Biedronka. I saw that you opened 54 stores in the nine months in Biedronka, 25 net stores. You guided at the beginning of the year for more than 120 stores. Do you still maintain the same guidance, and we can expect a strong acceleration of openings in the fourth quarter? My last question is regarding Ara. What is driving the volume growth and the like-for-likes in Ara? Thank you very much.
Thank you, Luís. So in terms of the basket deflation in Q3 was above 6%, almost 7%, in fact. Quite strong and a very difficult environment to operate. That is why I said that, in my opinion, the volume growth that Biedronka posted was really impressive, even during the third quarter. On the expansions, we expect to accelerate in the fourth quarter. This is something that is not unusual, even in other of the banners. It is the case of Ara. So for the moment, we are not expecting to change the guidance, and that is why we reiterated our outlook for the year. On the volume growth of Ara, this had to do really with the market dynamics. It is true that the market continues to be very challenging. Most of the population has low income and inflation is still high in the country as we know.
What Ara really did was providing the best opportunities, particularly on the promotion side, and part of these promotions were formulated in a way to also drive volumes, and that is what happened. Basically, it has to do with the dynamic and the relevant offers that Ara really offered the Colombian consumers.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Luís.
We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Manjari Dhar of RBC. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I just had two, if I may. My first question is a follow-up on the Biedronka margin. I wondered if you could give some color on exactly how much benefit you are seeing from the sales mix versus the work on the assortment and the store layouts, and how much further opportunity is there for that to continue into Q4 and into next year? My second question was just on cash flow. I was just wondering if you could give us any color on how we should be thinking about the working capital movement for the fourth quarter. Thank you.
Good morning, Manjari. On Biedronka gross margins, it is very difficult, and of course, we will not detail the several drivers because there are a lot of moving parts. What I can tell you is that, of course, the promotional dynamic that was imprinted and the way that it was designed was also to improve, as we mentioned, the mix. The stores have been refurbished to really not only to drive a better sales mix, but also to have more efficiency on our stores. Overall, we manage in order to protect the profitability, knowing since the beginning of the year that it would be more demanding than expected, particularly due to the several circumstances, not only the pressure on the costs, namely the fuel-related ones, but also the remaining of the intensity of the competition in the market. So it is very difficult to say.
What I mentioned already is that for Q4, the company will maintain, and of course, knowing that the Christmas period is very important, it will continue to do their best to design and craft the promotional activity to maintain a strong sales momentum, and try to take advantage of all the drivers, keeping in mind that probably will not get into basket inflation still in the fourth quarter. On the cash flow, for the fourth quarter, as usual, we expect to be a positive contributor. For this quarter, because of the seasonality of the business, has that characteristic.
This being said, the fact that there is a slowdown of the sales in value and the fact that we are doing a lot of promotional activities has put some pressure also on the working capital, cash generation, but it has really to do with the dynamics of the business, take into consideration these different circumstances. But for the fourth quarter, we expect it to be a positive contributor.
That's very clear. Thank you.
Manjari.
Thank you. We'll now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Izabel Dobreva of Morgan Stanley. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hello. Good morning, and thank you for taking my questions. My first one is on the like-for-like outlook, specifically for Biedronka into Q4. You mentioned that the deflation is getting slightly better versus - 7%, but then the volumes have a tough comp, given the performance in the prior- year. My question is, are you planning for a negative like-for-like at Biedronka in Q4, or do you think there is hope it can turn positive? My second question is slightly broader. We've had this very deep level of deflation now for a few quarters, and of course, within that, I'm aware there'll be a cyclical piece and a structural piece. My question is, what do you think needs to change at market level in order to get to a more rational pricing backdrop?
In your view, what is the circuit breaker to really get us out of this situation on competition we have had for a while now? My final question is, when we think about price mix and the assortment improvement that you have had and the operational efficiencies, can you give us some examples to bring this to life? I guess for a discounter which is as efficient as you already are, the level of improvements are just so excellent that it would be great to get some tangible examples of what exactly you are doing to achieve the margin improvements. Thank you.
Thank you, Izabel. On the like-for-like outlook for Biedronka, we usually don't plan for negatives. I can assure you that the teams do all their best to grow sales, and this is really the main driver, even of profitability, as you know and as we see it, not only at the P&L level, but really on a return on invested capital point of view. This being said, what I mentioned is that it will be very challenging. We think that there is this possibility of a slowdown on deflation even considering the comps. We also know that even if deflation slows down, keeping 5% volumes on top of the volumes growth that Biedronka has been presented every fourth quarter in the last years, it's very challenging. This being said, of course, it will depend, and I've already mentioned that.
I think that the consumer doesn't have an issue of available income, really, in Poland. It will depend on how consumers will balance this in terms of the mix of less deflation and the appetite for volumes. What I know is that our colleagues in Poland will do their best to deliver the growth. Of course, we cannot exclude, but I am sure that they will do all their best not to have a negative like-for-like, but this will depend, as I said, on all the dynamics. As you mentioned, what needs to change? Of course, there is a lot of things happening. As I mentioned, and this is only a proxy, what we see is that even all our suppliers and at the supply chain point of view are trying to drive volumes.
This, of course, to drive volumes, this means that you need to also put pressure on pricing. We have been seeing a dynamic not only of deflation at the food retail level, but also in the supply chain, which it is a little bit strange if we consider that most of the production costs are increasing, and this is labor, commodities, fuel related. We would expect, and this is going to be a difficult balance, but it will depend not only on the dynamic of the food retail market, which is very competitive, and it will continue to put pressure. Nobody wants to be the ones increasing prices. But it will depend, as you mentioned, on a broader scale on the different dynamics, even at the supply chains level. Of course, also on the appetites of the consumer.
As I mentioned, on the positive, it has available income. I think that the consumer is able to accommodate a low food inflation. But the inflection point at this stage, it is difficult to predict. I think that at least until the end of the year and probably until overlapping the first quarter, it is going to be difficult to see inflation kicking in in the market. On the price mix and operational efficiency. You have several examples. On operational efficiency, for instance, there was a remarkable work that continued to be done, and this has, at least in the beginning, a very important contribution of trying to decrease energy costs. The fact we continued to install photovoltaic panels this year. For instance, we have more five DCs with photovoltaic. We have several hundreds of stores with, again, also this alternative as an energy.
It is true that in Poland it is not an obvious place, but the fact is that usually it has a saving of more than 10%, and this is important when we are talking about such a great pressure on sales. Another example, of course, is the higher efficiency on the way we deal with the DRS system. It was implemented in October last year. The operations are now incorporating and taking that into consideration. That helps also on the efficient part. One thing is dealing with a new process, another thing is when it is already on an ongoing and stabilized at the operational level.
On the price mix. It is true that the fact that we are operating in deflation also allows the consumer, as prices overall have decreased, to pay and buy, in some categories, more value-added products without really thinking that it is paying more for the products. This, of course, helps also particularly at the margin levels. We are talking about different categories where, of course, as we have been launching, not only at the private brand but also at industry brand, some novelties are taking advantage of the trends, and this usually contributes positively for the gross margin.
Thank you very much.
Thank you, Izabel.
We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of António Seladas of AS Independent Research. Please go ahead, your line is open.
Hi. Sorry. Good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. It is just one, and it is related also with your cash flow generation. Your cash position has coming down over the last two or three years. This year, the results seems even worse. My question is, there is any level of cash position that you do not like to overcome. Could we see negative cash position in one year time? If that is the case, what kind of levels you do not like to, what is the threshold? What is the level that you do not like to overcome? Thank you very much.
Thank you, António. We know that we are highly leveraged from the operational point of view, with a working capital that is quite negative and depends really on the progression of sales. This being said, we tend to be very careful in the way that we approach financial debts, but we do not have a threshold or a cap. This will depend, of course. It is true that we have been reducing this, but this is because, first of all, we pay dividends. We also have maintained a quite strong CapEx for all the businesses. This is because, of course, longer- term, we believe this will pay off. Because, of course, we are expanding and improving even the shopping experience and not giving room for our competitors to gain relevance from our banners.
I do not think we do not exclude the possibility of having a net debt position instead of a net cash. This will depend on the opportunities that we have, even in terms of investments, and of course, on how conjunctural it is. We do not like to carry a lot of net debts, but it is not something that we would exclude if necessary, and if we feel that is value creative for the group.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you, António.
We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Piotr Łopaciuk of PKO BP. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hello. I wanted to expand on the question about slowing pace of expansion in Biedronka and also Ara. It seems to be well below the targets you have for the year, 120 and 200. The question is: Is it like you being more conservative on the openings, or does it mean like administrator hurdles for openings?
Good morning, Piotr. No, it has to do with the calendar really at this point. We are maintaining for now the number of openings that we have referred to in the outlook. I believe that even on the administrative constraints, I would say that in Poland and in Colombia, yes, of course, we have to follow all the procedures, but we are more or less used to the mechanics. I do not think it is really a question of the calendar for the openings. Where we have, and we flagged that in the past, is we are still dwelling a little bit on the administrative procedures in Slovakia. This being said, what it may mean is really a different timing of the openings, but no change in the ambition in terms of expansion for the different banners.
Okay, thank you. Just this for now seems to be disturbing, but other than that, I guess it is clear.
No, it is true that, in some cases, for instance, in Ara, it is very usual to open a lot of stores at the end of the year. Not something that I really appreciate, but it is true that then we start the year with already a reinforced network.
Okay, thank you.
We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Gustavo Fratini of Barclays. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hi. Thanks for taking my questions. Two from my side. The first one, still on expansion. Will all these new stores open be more concentrated in the beginning of the quarter or by the end? Maybe it could help you a little bit in terms of new space contribution. The second one, last year, you pretty much closed, if not all, most of the Biedronka stores for three consecutive days, right? During Christmas. Do you still plan to do that? Is there any calendar effect that we should consider for Biedronka sales in the fourth quarter? Thank you.
Hi, Gustavo. On the expansions, I think usually if it follows the natural path, for instance, in Ara, which is the highest concentration of openings, it is a little bit towards the end of the quarter, true. In Biedronka, I would assume a stable contribution throughout the quarter for the different openings. As for the calendar effect in Biedronka, last year it was not because we wanted, it was really because it was mandatory to close the stores. This year, we will have already also a different impact, and we will be forced to close four days in a row for Christmas period. Of course, we will try to overcome this constraint, particularly because it is very difficult for the operation, and it is bad even for inventory losses, but we will do our best to dwell with this calendar.
But it is not because we want, it is because really it has to do with the trading ban and with the calendar constraints that are put into the sector.
Super clear. Thank you.
We will now take our next question. Please stand by. Our next question comes from the line of Volodymyr Shkuropat of Kepler Cheuvreux. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Hi. Thank you for taking my questions. I have three on Poland. First, you mentioned customers buy more products because of higher affordability given deflation. Could you roughly quantify how much of the 5% volume growth in Q3 came from more items per basket versus more customers visit? Second, I see that the food deflation is exiting the deflation faster than the food inflation in Poland, as you mentioned. Are suppliers already asking for higher prices because of higher production costs? If not, have they mentioned any possible increase later this year or from 2027? Finally, what wage increase do you plan for store staff in 2027 compared with 2026?
Hi, Volodymyr. Good morning. On customers, what I can tell you is that the 5% is basically volume and mix driven. It's not so much the increase in the number of visits, but the fact that it's increasing the volumes and also with an improved mix. On the suppliers deflation, of course, the question with suppliers is that what we see in the market and overall, what is happening in the food industry is that you have several things happening. One, of course, is in some fresh products, there was excessive production due to several constraints in the market. As I mentioned, it was the case of meats. This led our suppliers to want to also push for volumes. To push for volumes, of course, you have to lower the prices.
This doesn't mean, of course, that at a certain point, and considering that the cost of production are increasing, that our suppliers will not ask for higher prices. But they also know that this is a quite difficult balance. If they want to drive volumes and if they want to increase their sales and their margins based also on volumes. This means that the price cannot go up quite significantly and quite fast. I believe that the whole market, in fact, as I mentioned, it's not just the food retailers, it's really the food supply chain in foods wants to drive volumes, and this has to be a quite challenging balance between the price increase and the volumes that we want to drive. On the wage increases. Usually, Biedronka tends to disclose it at the beginning of the year. At this point, I will not tell you.
What I will tell you is that, as you know, the labor market in Poland is quite tight. It's not just a question of being competitive at the prices. We have also to be competitive in terms of labor. I believe that Biedronka will be fairly remunerating and consider an increase that will not take purchasing power out of our colleagues overall in Poland.
Thank you. Just to follow- up the last question. In July, you said Biedronka is fast to cut prices but slower to pass higher costs to consumers. If and when purchase prices go up for you, how long would it take until shelf prices follow?
That will depend really on the consumer and on the market, Volodymyr. We will want to make sure that Biedronka continues to stay the most competitive in the market. It's difficult to say how fast it will pass. I think it will depend really on the total dynamics of the whole market, not just of the will of Biedronka. In our case, we will continue to give the best saving opportunities to the Polish families.
Great. Thank you.
Thank you, Volodymyr.
There are no further questions. I will now pass back to Ms. Ana Luísa Virgínia.
Thank you for your questions. Looking ahead to the final and decisive quarter of the year, of which one month is already past us, market conditions remain very demanding. Against an uncertain backdrop that we do not expect to change in the coming months, our banners will keep sticking to their priorities. To serve consumers by continuing to selectively invest in growth and in the quality of our overall propositions while preserving competitiveness, operational discipline, and financial strength as a way to create sustainable long-term value. Thank you for joining today's conference call. I wish you all a pleasant day.