·       Pepco Group opens first store in Bosnia and Herzegovina

·       The Group now operates in 21 territories across Europe, with Pepco stores in 19 countries

4 September 2023: Pepco Group, the fast-growing pan-European variety discount retailer, and owner of the Pepco and Dealz brands across Europe and Poundland in the UK, today announces the opening of its first Pepco store in Bosnia and Herzegovina, marking another important step forward in the Group’s profitable European store expansion.

The opening of the first Pepco store in Sarajevo on 12 September 2023 will be followed by further openings by the end of the year in locations such as Mostar, Livno, Gradačac, Kakanj, Čitluk and Lukavac.

The opening of the first Pepco store in Bosnia and Herzegovina follows the continued successful expansion into Western European markets, most recently in Portugal earlier this Summer. This underlines that the whole of Europe is addressable to the Pepco brand as it continues to execute its profitable store expansion strategy.

Pepco Group is on track to open at least 550 net new stores in FY23, primarily through the Pepco brand, while also expanding the presence of its Dealz brand in Poland. This will see the Group create thousands of net new jobs across Europe this financial year, while ensuring more customers have access to its popular and diversified offer.

Trevor Masters, CEO of Pepco Group, said: “The opening of the first Pepco store in Bosnia and Herzegovina represents a milestone in the Group’s profitable store expansion programme – our biggest source of value creation. Pepco is well placed for future success, supported by its market-leading customer proposition as we focus on building a bigger, better, cheaper and simpler business.”

The announcement follows a successful debt refinancing by Pepco with its inaugural bond issue of €375 million in June 2023, which saw strong demand from international and Polish investors and was multiple times oversubscribed. Pepco achieved ratings from the three largest global credit agencies – Fitch, S&P and Moody’s – who noted the robustness of the business and a healthy organic growth profile, driven by its store development programme, scale, and compelling value offering.