Belgian retail group Colruyt has reported growth in revenue and operating profit in its financial year 2023/24 amid a challenging and uncertain macroeconomic environment.
Colruyt Group posted an 11.9% increase in revenue, to €10.8 billion, driven by food inflation, market share gains in Belgium and the full consolidation of Newpharma and Degrenne Distribution.
Operating profit increased to €470 million, accounting for 4.3% of revenue, while net profit from continuing operations reached €368 million, or 3.4% of revenue, the company added.
Excluding Newpharma and Degrenne Distribution, revenue increased by 9.0%, the retailer noted.
Colruyt CEO Stefan Goethaert stated, "Given the current circumstances, we can look back on the past financial year with satisfaction. In a persistently challenging and highly competitive context, we managed to deliver significantly better results than the year before.
"And this is partly thanks to the relentless focus on (operational) efficiency and the hard work all our employees put in. As a group, we expanded through the acquisition of Degrenne Distribution in France and 54 Match and Smatch stores in our country. We, however, also had to make some tough decisions, such as the sale of our baby specialist Dreambaby."
Annual Highlights
Colruyt's gross profit margin improved to 29.8% partly because of the normalisation of the difference between sales price inflation and cost price inflation.
In full-year 2023/24, Colruyt Group's investments amounted to €433 million in 2023/24, or 4.0% of revenue.
It was mainly related to new stores and the modernisation of existing stores, the expansion of logistics capacity in Belgium and France, and the implementation of digital transformation programmes and energy efficiency measures.
Outlook
Goethaert stated that the company would remain vigilant in the new financial year due to the macroeconomic environment and challenging conditions in the Belgian retail market.
"In the financial year ahead, we as a Belgian and local retailer will continue to commit to our long-term strategy, our lowest-price promise within the Colruyt Lowest Prices format, and the constructive relations with all our partners, however big or small," he added.
