GDANSK -Poland's Allegro on Thursday trimmed its 2022 expectations for revenue and core profit growth, saying higher food, fuel, and energy inflation for longer may weaken discretionary consumer demand later in 2022.
The company, which runs Poland's most popular shopping platform, now expects year-on-year revenue growth from its core market at 25%-30%, compared with its earlier forecast of being in the low 30s.
"We do understand that higher inflation for longer may weaken consumer demand, which we have reflected in our updated full-year expectations," Finance Chief Jon Eastick said in a statement.
The firm has also narrowed down its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) expectations to between 10% and 15% from low-to-mid teens percentage growth earlier.
Allegro's first-quarter core profit fell 13.6% to 462.9 million zlotys ($107.60 million), weighed by higher costs. Still, that came above the 448 million zlotys expected by analysts in a company-compiled poll.
Eastick listed pricing, convenience, fast delivery and Allegro's buy-now-pay-later solution as the company's response to inflation-hit shoppers.
Poland's inflation stood at 12.4% in April, a more than two-decade high.
Central Europe's economies have been outpacing their euro zone peers, with consumer spending booming despite a war raging on their doorstep, but economists have flagged the likelihood of reversal as soon as this summer.
($1 = 4.3019 zlotys)
