Italian retail cooperative Conad closed 2017 with sales revenues of €13 billion, up +4.9% year-on-year, while market share grew from 11.9% to 12.5% in the same period, the company has said.
In the supermarket segment, Conad’s share grew to 21.5% (an increase of 0.8%), while in the independent retail trade it saw its market share rise to 14.6% (+0.4%).
Conad is currently the market leader in the Abruzzo, Calabria, Lazio, Molise, Sardinia, Umbria regions and is second in Campania, Emilia-Romagna, Sicily and Valle d'Aosta.
Most of its regions posted growth last year, the company has said.
The group said that its performance was achieved in a year that saw the first tentative signs of recovery in the Italian retail market, with modest retail sales growth of 0.2%, largely driven by the discounters, which saw a 3.2% increase. Sales in small-scale retail operations fell by 0.8% last year, however.
Promising Start
Conad has also made a promising start to 2018, the company added, recording a 3.8% growth in sales in the first quarter of the year, which is ahead of the market as a whole (+2.3%).
In terms of the divisions that have performed strongest, Sapori & Dintorni posted an 8.8% increase in the first quarter of the year, compared to the same period last. year, with its superstores (+6%) and supermarkets (+3.1%) also seeing growth.
Conad City was also up (+1.2%), while hypermarkets remained stable (+0.1%) and sales at Margherita stores (-0.3%) were slightly down.
The retailer currently operates 3,149 outlets across Italy (3,169 in 2016), with a total area of 1.94 million square metres.
Strategic Plan
The group's 2017-2019 strategic development plan anticipates investments of €1.10 billion over a three year period, of which €413 million was invested in 2017, €402 million will be invested in 2018 and €286 million in 2019, mostly towards new openings, store renovations and improving energy efficiency.
Conad said that it generated €713 million in savings for consumers in 2017. The retailer's Bassi&Fissi initiative, which lowered the prices of a wide range of everyday products, was extended to 425 product references in 2017, up from 379 the year before, and also into new categories.
Commenting on the retailer's performance, Conad CEO Francesco Pugliese said that the results confirmed that Conad is now a close second to Coop in the Italian market, adding that the retailer has only one objective, to reach a leadership position.
"The growth we saw in 2017 is the result of our entrepreneurial model, comprised of independent, independent retail entrepreneurs that are able to make the difference in an extremely competitive market," Pugliese said.
"Our satisfaction with the growth of the Conad network - once again significant and driven by the successes of our brand - can not be separated from the commitment to the growing and supporting our local communities."
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
