Dutch wholesaler Sligo Food Group saw like-for-like sales decline by 0.7% in the first quarter of its financial year.
If acquisitions, including the acquisition of the Heineken distribution business, are included, the group posted a 7.9% increase year-on-year for the period, reporting sales of €722 million, compared to €669 million for the same period last year.
Easter Sales
‘This year, the good sales in the week leading up to Easter fell in the first quarter while Easter week itself, with lower sales, was in the second quarter,’ Sligo said in a statement.
‘Last year, both weeks’ sales were in the second quarter and sales in the first quarter of this year benefitted by over 1% as a result.’
The group said that foodservice sales were up €59 million, or 12.7% in the quarter, or 0.3% higher if acquisitions are excluded.
Food Retail
Food retail sales were down 3.1% in the quarter, with like-for-like sales at its recently-disposed EMTÉ supermarkets business down 1.7% for the period.
Sligro Food Group operates a network of 50 cash-and-carry outlets and eight delivery centres in the Netherlands for its foodservice activities, and is a market leader, with a share of 24.4%. It also operates two cash-and- carry outlets and one delivery centre in Belgium.
The group said that it would refrain from making any full-year forecast statements until the publication of its half-year results in July.
© 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.
