UPDATE 1-J.Martins leaves capex plan little changed

* Capex for 2010-12 at 1.3 bln euros

* 70 pct of capex for Poland, 550 stores to open

* Sees double-digit sales growth, 18-20 pct this year (Adds gearing, EBITDA margin, stock price, background)

LISBON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Portuguese retailer Jeronimo Martins (JMT.LS) has set its capital expenditure at 1.3 billion euros ($1.95 billion) for the three-year period through 2012, it said on Tuesday, largely in line with its previous plan.

It said in a statement 70 percent of the expenditure would go to Poland, where the company seeks to open 550 new stores of its Biedronka discount chain, bringing the total number of Biedronka stores to 2,000 in 2012. The 2012 target is the same as announced previously.

Biedronka is Poland's largest food retailer.

In Portugal the company plans to open 25 new stores.

J.Martins also said it expected double-digit total sales growth in the period. This year it expects 18 to 20 percent consolidated sales growth at constant exchange rate.

A year ago the company earmarked between 400 million and 450 million euros in annual investment in the 2009-2011 period, which amounted to a total of 1.2-1.35 billion euros. It had since said, however, the depreciation of the Polish zloty could reduce the amount needed to achieve its targets.

J.Martins said it planned to reduce its gearing level, which rose last year after acquisitions in Poland and Portugal, to below 70 percent over the three-year period, while expecting EBITDA margin to be stable to positive.

The shares were up 0.8 percent at 6.55 euros in early trading, outperforming the Lisbon PSI20 .PSI20 index, up 0.2 percent. ($1=.6678 euros) (Reporting by Andrei Khalip; Editing by Greg Mahlich)