Italian retailer Conad is planning to grow its operations internally but also through acquisitions, as part of an three-year investment plan worth €950 million.
The retailer's 2015-2017 Development Plan foresees an average annual growth rate of 3.9 per cent, with investments amounting to €366 million this year, €308 million in 2016 and €276 million in 2017.
In addition to the opening of new stores, significant resources will be allocated to the restructuring of commercial formats and opportunities for external growth.
The main acquisition targets will be independent shops, local chains and those owned by international groups that could leave the Italian market. Also, the offer will be managed to respond to customer preferences (health products, pet food, expansion of the drugstore format, fuel distributors) and to increase productivity.
The ambitious development plan will involve all eight local cooperatives that make up the Conad retail system (Nordiconad, Conad Centro Nord, Commercianti Indipendenti Associati, Pac200A, Conad del Tirreno, Conad Adriatico, Conad Sicilia and Sicilconad) that, together, reported a four per cent profitability rate over production value, against an industry average of 0.1 per cent, and a net profit of €140.4 million.
Conad's own private label brand alone accounts for 27 per cent of the total turnover of the group, which ended 2014 with a 11.7 per cent market share. Conad is market leader in the Italian regions of Abruzzo, Molise, Lazio, Umbria, Calabria, Sicily and Sardinia, and is in second place in Emilia-Romagna, Valle d’Aosta e Campania.
Conad has 3,015 points of sale with 1,792,790 m2 of total surface, located in 1,470 municipalities and 108 Italian provinces.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic
