Polish convenience retailer Żabka Group's revenue rose 14.3% year-on-year (YoY) to 23.12bn zlotys ($5.86bn) in the first nine months of 2026.
Sales-to-End Customers (StEC) grew 12.5% to 26.18bn zlotys.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 15.7% to 3.39bn zlotys, with the margin on StEC improving to 13% from 12.6%.
Gross profit climbed 17.1% to 4.27bn zlotys and adjusted net profit increased 36.6% to 886m zlotys.
Like-for-like (LfL) sales growth was 3.6%, against 5.5% a year earlier.
The group opened 1,143 stores during the period, 135 of them in Romania, taking its network to 13,405 stores, up 10.8% YoY. It expects 16,000 stores by the end of 2028.
In the third quarter, revenue rose 13.8% to 8.47bn zlotys, and StEC increased 12.3% to 9.56bn zlotys.
Adjusted EBITDA grew 16.5% to 1.49bn zlotys, adjusted net profit rose 13.2% to 572m zlotys and gross profit increased 17.3% to 1.77bn zlotys.
LfL sales growth was 3.5%, compared with 4.5% a year earlier.
Żabka Group chief financial officer Marta Wrochna-Łastowska commented: “Strong cash flows underline our solid fundamentals and enable us to fund further growth. High cash generation also helped bring net debt to adjusted EBITDA (post-rent, excluding lease liabilities) down by 0.4× year-on-year to 0.7×.”
On 31 July, Canada-based Alimentation Couche-Tard, whose banners include Circle K, entered an agreement concerning the acquisition of shares in Żabka Group and announced it intended to make a voluntary tender offer.
The offer, which formally began on 26 August, applies to all issued and outstanding shares at 32 zlotys apiece, implying a total equity value of 32.6bn zlotys.
Żabka Group CEO Tomasz Suchański said: “Partnering with a global leader in modern convenience creates the potential to further strengthen our market position, develop our organisational capabilities and deliver greater value for customers, franchisees, employees and local communities.”
The Couche-Tard agreement followed a decision by Japanese retail group Seven & i Holdings in July to end discussions on a potential investment in Żabka.
