Dutch wholesale group Sligro has said that its sales from continuing operations in H1 were up 11.0% on the previous year, at €1.13 billion.
Organic sales fell by 0.1%, with the group saying that this was partly due to a change in reporting rules.
Operating profit from continued operations fell €2 million to €31 million in the period, while net profit from continued operations declined by €1 million to €25 million.
Net profit including discontinued operations increased by €1 million to €29 million.
Good Start To Summer
“After a difficult start to the year, we closed the first half of the year with two fantastic summer months,” commented Sligro chief executive Koen Slippens.
“We are seeing net growth in our sales markets, even though it doesn’t appear to be as strong we had originally expected. At Foodservice, the first six months of the year were dominated by the acquisition of the Heineken wholesale operations.”
Slippers added that the group’s “first priority” is to “look after our joint customers and to ensure continuity of operations. In addition, we are working hard on the preparations for the further integration of the activities, due to start later this year.”
On 2 July, Sligro completed the sale of its EMTÉ retail business to Jumbo and Coop, with Slippens noted that the group’s first half was largely “dominated” by this process.
“We have great respect for our many EMTÉ colleagues, who have continued to work with great passion and commitment throughout this difficult period.”
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
