ICA's H1 star performance: Sweden & the Baltics
Swedish performance driven by wholesale, pharmacies and Kvantum supermarkets
In Sweden, which makes up the majority of ICA’s sales, the retailer grew by 3.4%, attributing this to its wholesale and Cura pharmacy performance. As of the end of June, the retailer operated 64 Cura pharmacies, an increase of 12 versus last year. All store formats reported growth in the first half, with ICA Kvantum, the retaiker's supermarket reporting the strongest format growth of 3.4%.
Elsewhere in Sweden, Axfood has released its first half results, reporting a 1.3% increase in net sales.
Want to know more about the wider Swedish grocery market? Explore our new Sweden country presentation.
Latvia and Lithuania drives performance in the Baltics
Rimi Baltic performed strongly, delivering growth of 5.5% in the first half, which the retailer attributed to ‘performance in Latvia and Lithuania’. In Estonia, net sales declined by 0.5% where ICA faces challenges of ‘intense competition, low inflation and weaker private consumption’.
Norwegian sales decline while operating loss improves
Meanwhile, in Norway ICAA reported a 6.9% decline in net sales to SEK 7,716m (€842.5m). This was attributed to ‘weak sales and closure of a number of unprofitable stores.' ICA also reported an operating loss of SEK 325m (€36.5m), although this is an improvement on the loss of SEK 439m (€47.9m) in the same period last year. The retailer stated that this was due to ‘improved margins, lower shrinkage, lower store costs and lower central costs’.
Norwegian performance: discount grows while convenience declines
Performance between formats varied, with the retailer reporting a 1.6% increase in net sales for its Rimi discount format, while its Matkroken convenience format reported a 14.7% decline in net sales.
Final decision from Norwegian Competition Authority anticipated later this year
ICA is still waiting to hear the final outcome from the Norwegian Competition Authority on the sourcing and logistics cooperation between ICA Norge and Norgesgruppen, Norway’s biggest grocery retailer. A final decision is anticipated later this year. Meanwhile, ICA is considering alternative options.
source: RetailAnalysis
