Pepco: Bankruptcy of the owner will not affect our business

On July 26, 2023, we have been informed about the financial difficulties of "Steinhoff International Holdings", and in order to prevent further speculation, we hereby inform you that the condition of "Steinhoff International Holdings" will not affect the operations of "Pepco N.V. Group" (PEPCO)."

This is the official statement by this group, issued after the information appeared in the media at the end of last week.

Namely, the media reported that the multinational company Steinhoff International is shutting down. The issue is that Steinhoff owns 72% of the shares of the European clothing and home goods chain Pepco. This led to speculations about the further fate of the chain, which has over 100 stores in Serbia.

- The Pepco company has been operating for several years as an independent, successful company on the stock exchange with its own financing and a strong balance sheet separate from Steinhoff International Holdings - the company stated in response to speculations.

The statement also points out that in July 2023, Pepco announced further strategic progress, continuing strong revenue and profit growth - driven by the chain's expansion strategy - revenues for the nine months increased by 19.3% at constant exchange rates, reaching EUR 4.2 billion.

- The Pepco company, which operates in 20 countries in Europe, has achieved its success and will continue to achieve it with the great support of our loyal customers, strong cash flow and a positive balance sheet - the announcement concludes.

The Steinhoff company, which in addition to the Pepco store chain, once also owned the furniture company Kika, has been in trouble since 2017, when irregularities were discovered during an accounting audit. The head of the company, Markus Jooste, subsequently left the company, and the tax fraud gradually came to light during further inspections. The investigation was followed by a collapse in stock prices.

Pepco d.o.o. Beograd

Pepco

Steinhoff International Holdings

bankruptcy

business