Greek retailer Jumbo six-month profit up 11 pct

Jumbo, Greece's biggest listed specialty retailer, posted on Monday an 11 percent rise in net profit for the six months to December last year thanks to fast growing sales in Romania and Bulgaria.

Net profit in the July-to-December period came in at 90.4 million euros ($111.29 million), up from 81.4 million euros in the same period a year ago. The company said it would pay an interim dividend of 0.1728 euros a share.

Six-month group sales rose 10.2 percent to 443 million euros, with revenue from Romania and Bulgaria growing by more than 50 percent and by 23 percent respectively.

The retailer operates 51 stores in Greece and another 24 stores in Cyprus, Bulgaria and Romania. By December next year, it said it plans to open three new stores in Romania, one in Greece and another one in Bulgaria. [Reuters]