After a profit-making year, supermarket chain Intermarché has revealed plans to open 63 supermarkets and 90 petrol stations in Portugal by 2020, representing a total investment of around €280 million.
Already boasting 232 supermarkets in the country, the chain’s administrator Vasco Simões says the goal is to “keep expanding” and increase the market share, currently at 10%.
The ambitious expansion plans were announced after the chain – which is owned by Os Mosqueteiros group – revealed that its trade volume had increased 2% in 2014, up to a total of €1.9 billion.
Speaking to Público newspaper, Simões explained that the profits went up due to a “decrease in the price of food products and an increase in the sale of fuel”.
Around 460 million litres of fuel were sold in 2014, raking in around €440 million for the chain – a 7% increase compared to 2013.
If all goes according to plan, by 2020 the chain will boast 295 supermarkets in Portugal, with 80% including a petrol station.
