Finnish retailer Kesko has posted a 4.0% increase in like-for-like sales in the first quarter of its financial year.
Reported net sales were up 5.8% for the period from January to March, to €2.54 billion, up from €2.4 billion in the corresponding period last year.
'All-Time Best'
In what Kesko described as its 'all time-best first quarter', comparable operating profits stood at €65.1 million, which is an increase of €7.6 million on the previous year.
In the grocery trade, net sales were up 4.6% and comparable operating profit rose to €60.4 million. Its building/technical trade and car trade businesses both saw net sales increase by 6.8% and 11.0% respectively, although car trade sales were down 4.6% on a like-for-like basis.
COVID-19 Impact
According to the group, the COVID-19 epidemic began to affect its operations 'significantly' from mid-March onwards.
In grocery, it led to growth of 9.8% at its K-food stores in March, while its K-ruoka.fi platform is now the biggest online grocery store in Finland, growing at a pace of over 800% a week, it said.
Its car trade has 'weakened significantly' as a result of COVID-19, it added, while its building and technical trade has been impacted 'only slightly',
The business has implemented a number of measures to secure cash flow during the crisis, including temporary personnel lay offs and plans to adjust its cash flow from investing activities below €200 million in 2020.
"Although there are ongoing efforts worldwide to stop the epidemic, we must prepare for the possibility that these exceptional circumstances will last for some time," commented chief executive Mikko Helander.
"We have taken necessary actions in all our functions at Kesko. Our key priority is to ensure the safety of our customers and personnel. We have also focused on securing our purchasing and supply chains."
It said that it expects comparable operating profit for continuing operations to amount to between €400 million and €450 million in 2020, which falls short of the 2019 comparable operating profit of €461.6 million.
© 2020 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.
