H1’18 sales of Bulgartabac Holding shrink 45.7%, the EBITDA margin losses 20 p.p. (NEGATIVE)

Bulgartabac sales continued to decline in the second quarter and reached BGN 164.7m by the end of H1 (-45.7% YoY vs 23.3% decline in Q1). The drop in revenue came despite the consolidation of electronics retailer Technomarket. OPEX fell 33.7% as the group continues to downsize, however, the EBITDA margin imploded, dropping by 20 p.p. YoY to 3.1% as of end of H1’18. EBIT turned negative and the company reported a BGN 9.3m net loss for the half year (BGN 45.9m net profit in 2017).