Polish retailer CCC's first-quarter earnings jump 244%

(Reuters) - Polish footwear and fashion retailer CCC said on Thursday its first-quarter earnings more than tripled as profitability improved across all its business lines.

Preliminary earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at 304 million zlotys ($76.41 million) compared with 89 million in the year-earlier period.

Revenue in the February-April quarter rose 9% year-on-year to 2.26 billion zlotys, driven by its newest brand, off-price chain HalfPrice, and its namesake CCC brand.

The group, which has been cutting costs to reduce debt, said costs in the quarter fell 1%, while retail space increased by 7%.

"The first quarter was not a race for revenue, but for profitability, which is a priority for us," chief executive Dariusz Milek, who is also the group's founder and biggest shareholder, said in a statement.

Gross margin rose by 5.1 percentage points to 51.6%.

The retailer plans to finalise the refinancing of its CCC business unit in the middle of the year, including by raising funds from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, it said.

($1 = 3.9786 zlotys)

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)