Coop Norge chief executive Geir Inge Stokke has said that the company's dividend to its 1.7 million co-owners was at a "record high", as the business posted operating revenues of NOK 60.1 billion (€6.16 billion) in full-year 2018.
Operating profit for the year stood at NOK 967 million, despite "tough competition" in the Norwegian grocery market, Stokke said.
Price Competition
"Although the price competition in the grocery market is tough, we have succeeded in maintaining the competitiveness of our cooperative," he said. "In order to continue to deliver good customer experiences, we are investing in new technology, streamlining the supply of goods and further developing our e-commerce solution."
Coop's low-cost chain Extra put in a strong performance, the group said, with 7.9% overall growth in 2018.
"It is obvious that customers appreciate Extra's combination of low prices and a large selection," said Stokke. "We are going to pass the 500 store-mark around the turn of the year."
The company also pointed to the high level of customer satisfaction in the business as a sign of a promising future for Coop Norge.
"Coop rose to the top in the Ipsos reputation measurement of large Norwegian businesses in 2018," said Stokke. "This means that customers like what we do. One consequence of this is that we are gaining more and more new co-owners, and in particular, recruitment is high among younger customers under the age of 30.
"We see that Coop's owner model, which has similarities to the sharing economy, has never been more attractive, and this gives us faith in the future," he added.
Logistics Investment
Coop Norge has also announced a major investment in its Coop Logistics Centre, also called CLog, with the business planning to invest more than NOK 1 billion in the facility.
This will see CLog expand by around 32,000 square metres, with the extension process due to be completed by 2021. Logistics specialist Witron has been employed to fit the logistics centre out with the latest automated warehouse technology.
"CLog is being developed for the future in line with Coop Norway's strategic ambitions for growth, and we are now building what we call CLog 2.0," commented Roger Nyeng, logistics director for Coop Norway.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
