Edeka Minden-Hannover, one of the regional cooperatives that form the Edeka Group, has posted a 6.8% increase in sales to €8.72 billion in full-year 2017, which is up 6.8% on the previous year.
The group invested around €440 million in the opening of new outlets and the modernisation of other stores, including incorporating some 60 former Kaiser's Tengelmann branches in Berlin into its network.
In addition, the group increased its total sales area by 2.7% during the full year.
Solid Basis
Commenting on its performance, Mark Rosenkranz, CEO of Edeka Minden-Hannover, said that the business had “a good year [which provides] a solid basis for further growth.”
Rosenkranz added that one of the group’s “main tasks” for full-year 2018 is the “further development of Kaiser’s branches in Berlin”.
The group now operates 180 stores in Berlin, making it the biggest retailer by store count in the German capital. It plans to ‘completely rebuild’ twelve branches in Berlin, for which it will invest €20 million.
A further €8 million will be earmarked for smaller store refurbishments and conversions
During the year, the business also took over the Hamburg-based company Hagenah, which specialises in seafood; a move that will “further strengthen [the group’s] competence in the retail and wholesale trade”, Rosenkranz added.
Two thirds of the 1,521 stores that comprise the group are operated by independent retailers; among these, like-for-like sales increased by 2.8% year-on-year.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
