Swedish and Baltic Sea Region customers future shopping in the supermarket chain Coop is threatened by a possible bankruptcy, Swedish analysts foresee. The Swedish Cooperative Union KF, that owns Coop is struggling to curb a billion kronor debt (more than 125 million Euro) However, several industry analysts are warning that the problems are so big that they doubt that it is possible to balance the books, reports Swedish Radio.
Professor Ulf Johansson at the School of Economics in Lund doubts the future existence of KF. And he wonders how long the banks think it is viable to run a loss-making business.
KF’s decrease in revenues has been going on for years. But in the last two years, the situation worsened with the Co-Op reporting one billion in annual losses. This despite the fact that KF closed several stores and sold its pharmacy chain and some properties.
KF’s CEO Frank Fiskers would not comment on other people’s perception. He promises profits this year. He says their plan to achieve this is written clearly in Union’s annual report.
Source: Radio Sweden 4.3.2013