Financial woes take toll on Poland's Matras books stores

A court-administered recovery plan launched in April has been discontinued, the daily Puls Biznesu writes.

The company’s insolvency administrator, Krzysztof Gołąb, testified in court that "the company has no capacity to pay wages owing to almost non-existent assets.” The company’s debt is growing by some PLN 3-4 million (EUR 0.7-0.9 mln) each month.

While Matras aims to move on from the failed recovery plan to bankruptcy proceedings, it remains unknown whether the company can even afford to take the step, Puls Biznesu writes. The proceedings are to cost some PLN 6.9 million. The enterprise’s assets, however, are estimated at nearly PLN 3 million.

Matras is among a long line of Polish bookstores hit by a fall in reading. According to a study carried out by the National Library in 2016, only 37 percent of Poles read at least one book a year. (aba/pk)

Source: Puls Biznesu