German retail group REWE has posted sales growth of 10.4%, to €84.8 billion, in its 2022 financial year – up from €76.8 billion in the preceding year.
In Germany, the cooperative group saw sales rise 8.2% to €58.6 billion – up from €54.1 billion in 2021.
In overseas markets, sales increased by 15.7%, year on year, to €26.2 billion.
Turnover from continuing operations – excluding independent retail and at-equity companies – grew by 11.3%, to €77.2 billion.
Earnings for the full financial year (EBITA) declined by 2.3%, year on year, to €1.45 billion, while consolidated net income fell by 33.4%, to €503.5 million.
The company’s performance was impacted by a decline in food retail in Germany due to cost increases from energy, raw materials, logistics, personnel, and targeted risk provision in individual investments.
However, it was compensated by the performance of other business areas within the group, such as the tourism division, international business, and Lekkerland.
Lionel Souque, CEO of REWE, said, “In 2022, we did not leave our customers standing in the rain of inflation without an umbrella.
“As announced, we have invested a three-digit amount [in millions] in Germany alone. We have thus effectively and demonstrably stabilised our sales prices and consciously accepted a decline in earnings in the food trade in Germany and actively foregone profit.”
The company’s investments in property, plants, equipment and intangible assets rose by around €520 million, to €2.8 billion – up from €2.3 billion in 2021.
For the current year, REWE Group plans to invest €2.7 billion in its operations.
Divisional Performance
REWE Group’s Retail Germany business segment, comprising REWE stores and Penny, reported year-on-year sales growth of 6.8%, to €37.4 billion.
The International Trade unit, which includes the Austrian segment (Billa, Bipa, Adeg), the CEE segment (Billa, IKI) and Penny International, saw sales go up by 10.5%, to €17.3 billion.
The company’s full national range saw a sales increase of 6.1%, to €28.4 billion, in 2022. The segment includes the retail sales of REWE branches and wholesale sales with merchants and other partners.
In the full-range international segment, sales rose by around 11%, to more than €11 billion, with full-range Austria (Billa, Bipa, Adeg) generating €7.3 billion – up by 4.2%, year on year.
Full-range CEE (Billa, IKI) saw sales go up by 13.4% in the financial year, to €3.5 billion.
Penny Germany achieved sales growth of 8.9%, to €8.8 billion, while Penny International, which operates in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania and Czechia, reported a 16.7% increase in sales, to €6.6 billion.
Penny witnessed the strongest growth in Romania, followed by Hungary and Czechia.
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The convenience business unit, with the national and international business of Lekkerland, grew by 4.2%, to €14.2 billion.
In Germany, sales at REWE To Go stores rose by more than 11%.
Sales in REWE’s DIY store business grew by 8.7%, year on year, to €2.6 billion, the company noted.
Elsewhere, invoiced sales in tourism more than doubled, year on year, to €5.7 billion.
Summarising the development, Souque stated, “Europeans’ desire to travel returned in the summer of 2022 and approached pre-crisis levels again for the tour operators of DER Touristik.
“Across all source markets, DER Touristik Group recorded a very strong travel summer, with sales that, in some cases, even exceeded the level of 2019.”
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© 2023 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
