The economic and political turmoil that is convulsing Greece is likely in the long term to benefit international retailers that trade there, according to Planet Retail analyst Milos Ryba.
The financial robustness, scale and strength in own-brands of international groups will help them outperform Greek rivals, he said.
British groups, including Body Shop, DSGi, Marks & Spencer and Mothercare trade in Greece, as well as international retailers such as Lidl. Many have experienced difficult trading as Greece battles to cope with its debts and faces pressure from European Commissioners to introduce an austerity regime.
M&S, for instance, which has 31 Greek shops as part of a joint venture with local business Marinopoulos, attributed a 5.9% fall in international sales during its fourth quarter to problems in markets including Greece.
But Arden analyst Nick Bubb agreed that the problems in Greece “would not be a game changer” for retailers. He said: “People will still go about their business.”
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