Discounter Penny, part of the German group Rewe, reported a RON 10.6 billion (approximately EUR 2 billion) turnover in Romania in 2025, up 12% compared to 2024. It is the 11th consecutive year with the highest growth among the food retail entities of Rewe, company representatives have said.

The increase comes in the context of a demanding and challenging market, Michael Jaeger, member of the Rewe International board, explained, pointing to the geopolitical context marked by ongoing wars in Ukraine and in the Middle East, costs with energy and logistics, and cautious consumption. The purchasing power did not increase, and customers scrutinize every expense carefully, he noted.

Daniel Gross, the CEO of Penny Romania, called 2025 a good but tough year. “The potential we believe Romania offers gives us the confidence to keep moving forward,” he said.

“Growth was driven by two factors: about half came from expansion, with 40 new stores opened last year, while the other half was generated by like-for-like growth in existing stores. We succeeded in attracting more customers to Penny, and Penny is becoming increasingly attractive within the Romanian market ecosystem,” he explained. 

“This was the eighth consecutive year in which our growth outperformed the market. Last year, our growth rate was twice the market average,” he added.

Meanwhile, the retailer posted a net profit of RON 174 million in 2025, down 22% compared to 2024. About one quarter of the decline was driven by margin pressure, as consumers are increasingly purchasing during promotions. Higher costs across all areas of the business added to this, Gross explained. 

The fiscal changes introduced, including the VAT increase, and margin caps contributed to the situation, Draga Cukjati, CFO of Penny Romania, said.

Penny plans to open 40 additional stores this year, a number similar to the openings that took place in 2025 and which brought its local network to 456 units.

“For 2026, we are once again aiming to open 40 new stores, and if everything goes according to plan, we could reach the milestone of 500 stores by year-end,” Gross said.  

“The biggest growth potential lies in what we call “large rural areas.” Following our store openings in Huși and Curtea de Argeș, we have now covered towns with more than 20,000 inhabitants. Our focus is increasingly shifting towards larger communes with catchment areas of roughly 10,000 people.”

In 2025, the retailer also finalized its fifth logistics center in Mihăilești, in Giurgiu county, adding to centers in Ștefăneștii de Jos, Turda, Bacău, and Filiași.

The retailer eyes investments of EUR 3 billion by 2035 to bring the local network to 1,000 stores and develop its logistics.

In 2025, the company developed its 3RO initiative, through which it partners with local producers to offer products whose main ingredient comes from Romania, and which are processed and packaged locally. Currently, the 3RO range accounts for 55% of the retailer’s turnover, the company said.

In addition, it continued to expand its private label range in order to remain aligned with its discounter profile. 

Penny currently has more than 8,000 employees in Romania. The retailer makes on average 14 hires with each store opening, and added 200 employees with the opening of the logistics center in Mihăileşti.

Last year, the retailer expanded the deliveries with a partnership with Bolt Food, in addition to ones with Glovo, Wolt, and Bringo, and processed 980,000 home deliveries from 205 stores in 75 localities. It also launched its Click & Collect service, and continued its partnership with the app Bonapp by Munch, which offers products nearing their expiration date at discounted prices.

In 2025, the retailer donated 5,401 tonnes of food from its stores and logistics centers to the Network of Food Banks in Romania.

(Photo: the company)

simona@romania-insider.com