Swedish retailer ICA has posted a 2.8% growth in like-for-like sales for the third quarter of its financial year.
The group’s consolidated net sales increased by 6.2% from SEK 27.2 billion (€2.6 billion) in the third-quarter of 2017 to SEK 28.8 billion (€2.8 billion) in the third-quarter of 2018.
According to the company, sales growth was driven by increased customer footfall along with a higher average spend.
Product categories that performed strongly during the period include beverages, salads and prepared foods, seafood, dairy, frozen products, bakery, and fruit and vegetables.
‘Good Momentum’
CEO of ICA Gruppen, Per Strömberg, said, “ICA’s store sales in Sweden maintained good momentum during the third quarter.
“The unusually warm weather continued into the third quarter, which contributed to the same sales pattern as in the preceding quarters, with high growth for the small ICA stores, that have had a really good development this year.”
The group posted EBITDA of SEK 1.5 billion (approximately €0.2 billion), up from SEK 1.4 billion in the same period of the previous year.
Earning per share dropped to SEK 5.36 from SEK 5.45 in the same quarter of the previous year.
E-commerce Growth
Online sales of the group amounted to SEK 365 million (€35.2 million), up 41% in Q3 of 2018 as against SEK 259 million (€25 million) Q3 of 2017.
In the period between January 2018 to September 2018, online sales grew by 45% from SEK 836 million (€80.6 million) in the same period in 2017 to SEK 1.2 billion (€0.1 billion).
By the end of September 2018, 256 ICA stores offer online food services, and the ICA Matkassen meal kit concept is available in some 605 stores.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Dayeeta Das. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
