Jumbo owner warns of risks that lie ahead for businesses
If the minimum wage is raised next year (leading to higher salary costs), and electricity rates are hiked (as planned), not to mention the near-certainty of general elections, this could result in an explosive mix in the Greek economy next year, according to the owner of toy and homeware retailer Jumbo.
Apostolos Vakakis told the Association of Institutional Investors on Friday that 2019 will likely be a year of turbulence. He forecast that his own company will experience a slowdown in its sales volume growth and, at best, the stagnation of profits at the same level as in the July 2017-June 2018 period.
Vakakis estimated that Jumbo’s earnings in July 2018 to June 2019 would range between the same as the year earlier period and a 10 percent contraction.
