Discounter Pepco expands European roll-out into Portugal

LONDON (Reuters) - European discount retailer Pepco Group will open its first shop in Portugal on Wednesday, launching in its twentieth European territory as one of the sector's biggest store roll-outs gathers pace.

The Warsaw-listed group, which owns the Pepco, Poundland and Dealz brands, trades from over 4,100 stores. It opened a net 166 stores in its first half to March 31 and plans at least 550 net new stores over its full 2022-23 financial year.

The Pepco store in Coimbra, central Portugal, will be followed by openings later this month in Albufeira and Olhão.

Further openings are planned over the course of the year, including in Lisbon, Porto, Elvas, Tavira, Averio, and Braga.

The stores will sell clothing, general merchandise from homewares to toys, as well as toiletries, cleaning and laundry products, personal care products, confectionery, and pet categories.

“Our launch in Portugal ... further validates our belief the whole of Europe is addressable to us," Pepco Group CEO Trevor Masters said.

The group plans to enter a 21st territory, Bosnia and Herzegovina, later this year.

Pepco Group, which listed in 2021 and has a market capitalisation of about $5.5 billion, last month reported a 23% surge in first-half revenue.

(Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Mark Potter)