Polish e-commerce firm Allegro eyes higher Q1 profit

(Reuters) - Poland's biggest e-commerce platform Allegro expects its core earnings will rise in the first quarter, it said Thursday, as it focuses on cutting costs amid economic uncertainty.

Allegro forecast its adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) will increase 20-23% in its key Polish market.

Gross merchandise value (GMV), an industry metric used to measure transaction volumes, is expected to rise 13%-14%, while revenue is likely to increase 20%-22%, the company said.

Allegro is keeping costs down as it integrates the Mall business it bought last year and adapts to consumers spending less.

The company's core earnings jumped 41.2% to 708 million zlotys ($163.70 million) in the fourth quarter in Poland, topping average analysts' expectations of 692 million zlotys in a company-compiled consensus. Including Mall group, which it acquired last year, the figure rose 33.3%.

($1 = 4.3250 zlotys)

(Reporting by Anna Pruchnicka; Editing by Matt Scuffham)