Sligro Food Group has reported a 1.1% increase in turnover for its 2024 financial year, to €2.89 billion – up from €2.86 billion a year earlier.
In the Netherlands, turnover for the year stood at €2.49 billion, with fourth-quarter turnover coming in at €640 million. This represented a 2.6% increase for the year and a 4.6% increase in the fourth quarter.
Tobacco accounted for a sizeable segment of the wholesale group’s turnover increase for the year, it noted. Excluding tobacco, turnover for the year went up by 0.4%.
Tobacco sales totalled €267 million for the year and €63 million in the fourth quarter, with the segment accounting for 9.2% of total sales, compared to 7.4% in 2023.
Belgian Performance
In Belgium, Sligro reported turnover of €430 million for the year – a 7.8% decline on the previous year – and €111 million in the fourth quarter – also a 7.8% decline.
‘As expected, we were still behind last year in the fourth quarter, but we have seen a better trend since the third quarter and the gap with the previous year is decreasing,’ the group noted of its Belgian business.
Ceasing Tobacco Sales
As a result of the tobacco ban in Dutch supermarkets, the group will cease the sale of tobacco products this year.
As retail expert Peter ter Hark told local media, while much of the increase in the wholesaler’s turnover came from tobacco, halting sales won’t make too much of a difference to its performance.
“The margin on tobacco is not much, so it costs you a lot of work without you earning much from it,” ter Hark noted.
Sligro plans to publish its full annual results and annual report for 2024 on 27 March 2025.
