Swedish retailer ICA Gruppen has said that its like-for-like sales rose by 3.2% in August 2018, compared to the same month the previous year.
Reported sales rose by 3.7% at the retailer, totalling SEK 10.23 billion (€980 million), excluding VAT, for the month.
Sales in the period from January to August 2018 were up by 3.9%, compared to the previous year, at SEK 78.8 billion (€7.54 billion).
Divisional Performance
All of the group's banners posted like-for-like sales increases in the period. Its Maxi ICA Stormarknad hypermarket business was up 2.5% in like-for-like terms, to SEK 3.1 billion (€0.30 billion), while its ICA Kvantum operation was up 4.2%, to SEK 2.4 billion (€0.23 billion).
The group's ICA Supermarket business rose by 2.9%, to SEK 3.1 billion (€0.30 billion), while its ICA Nära convenience arm was up 3.6%, to SEK 1.6 billion (€0.15 billion).
In the period from January to August 2018, all of ICA's four main divisions posted like-for-like sales gains. Maxi ICA Stormarknad rose by 2.9%, ICA Kvantum rose by 3.3%, ICA Supermarket was up 3.2%, and ICA Nära saw its sales rise by 5.2%.
ICA estimated the calendar effect for the month to be 1.4%. As of 31 August 2018, the number of ICA stores was 1,284.
'Unsatisfactory' Quarter
In August, ICA claimed that its second-quarter performance was 'unsatisfactory' due to volume variations and increased transport costs, as well as the associated costs of opening a new e-commerce warehouse in Sweden.
This was despite good sales growth, with the business posting SEK 29.25 billion (€2.80 billion) in consolidated net sales for the quarter.
“The trends from the first quarter of the year continued into the second quarter – good sales growth, good momentum in e-commerce, strong cash flow, and favourable earnings performance for several of the group’s operations,” Per Strömberg, the retailer's chief executive, said at the time.
“At the same time, ICA Sweden showed weak earnings, where the favourable sales performance was not reflected in operating profit. Targeted measures are ongoing, to restore profitability,” added Strömberg.
© 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.
