- REWE GroupPressPress ReleasesREWE Group Remains Strong in the Crisis: Sales Up by More Than 50 billion Euros
REWE Group Remains Strong in the Crisis: Sales Up by More Than 50 billion Euros
Köln, 17.03.10
Investments in the billion euro range and internationalization strategy reaping rewards
In Germany, overall external turnover was raised by 2.6 per cent, reaching 34.6 billion euros, while foreign business grew by 2.9 per cent to 16.3 billion euros.
REWE's core group companies, i.e. excluding independent retailers, saw an even more dynamic trend. The turnover of the Group was lifted from 35.6 to 37.4 billion euros (+4.8 per cent), according to figures yet to be confirmed.
The number of stores across Europe rose in 2009 by 5 per cent to a total of 15,453. Germany saw a further expansion of the store network as the number of locations rose to 10,885 (+5.6 per cent). The figure for all stores abroad rose by 3.6 per cent to 4,568.
A total of 326,000 people were employed by REWE Group Europe-wide in 2009, which is 2 per cent more than the previous year. In Germany alone, staff numbers increased by 3.7 per cent, rising by 7,700 employees to 219,000. The total number of employees working for the REWE Group abroad came to 107,000. Junior staff training schemes play an extremely important role for REWE Group. Overall, the companies and sales lines in REWE Group in Germany trained 7,300 trainees last year, that is 500 up on the previous year. These figures again confirm that the trading and travel and tourism group remains one of Europe's major employers.
"The healthy overall development of the core companies as well as the Group as a whole is mainly due to our organic growth and carefully considered acquisitions in Germany and abroad along with investments totalling around 1.4 billion euros," says Alain Caparros, CEO of REWE Group, explaining the trend. "We are very satisfied with developments. REWE Group's earnings (EBITA) are expected to exceed the previous year's record figures of 708 million euros," Caparros added. "The independent REWE retailers have again shown their strength by running modern supermarkets with a rigorous customer focus and up-to-date product range." He is particularly impressed by the almost four percent increase in turnover by the independent retailer because it has happened in the context of a generally declining retail sector.
"Full-Range National" Division
Last year, food trading in Germany recorded a nominal decline in turnover of 1.8 per cent. So REWE is particularly pleased with the trend in its "Full-Range National" division. With sales rising by 5.9 per cent to 13.6 billion euros, this was again REWE Group's strongest division in 2009. The number of branch stores (including REWE toom) increased to 1,804 locations (+1.1 per cent) through organic growth as well as acquisitions.
As for the independent REWE retailers, they also managed to escape the negative industry trend in Germany, pushing up their turnover by 3.8 per cent to 8.4 billion euros. The number of independent supermarkets being supplied rose by 223 (+4.1 per cent) to 5,598. A flagship initiative in 2009 was the launch of the premium private label "Feine Welt" - a brand that rounds off the REWE private label portfolio in the upper segment. REWE can now offer its customers a complete range of products geared to today's tastes and needs, starting with the low-priced "ja!" label, through the high-value REWE and REWE Bio, and up to the premium product brands.
"Full-Range International" division
The Full-Range International division covers the operations of REWE Group in Austria, Italy, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Romania, Ukraine, Bulgaria and Poland. The 3,010 branch stores achieved a total turnover of more than 9 billion euros (provisional figures). This amounts to an increase of over 6 per cent. In 2009, the 1,701 Austrian BILLA and MERKUR, ADEG and BIPA branch stores again made a decisive contribution to REWE Group earnings as they boosted sales by 8.8 per cent.
"Discount" division
REWE Group's discount subsidiary PENNY can report positive results for 2009. The 3,589 branch stores in Germany, Austria, Hungary, Italy, the Czech Republic, Romania and Bulgaria managed to raise overall sales by more than 8 per cent to 10.3 billion euros. In Germany, PENNY saw a growth of 10 per cent, reaching total sales of 7 billion euros. PENNY currently runs 2,385 stores in Germany. The growth in Germany resulted from a number of projects, a strong in-house expansion programme and the rapid integration of 328 stores taken over from Plus. Despite the fierce price war and the first experience of deflation in the product range, PENNY - unlike many of its competitors in the industry - was able to develop positively through its own efforts in 2009. PENNY also did well outside Germany, pushing up sales in the 1,203 branches by 4.8 per cent to reach 3.3 billion euros. The strategy of giving PENNY discounters a local profile with typical products in the range will be continued. In the Czech Republic, with 324 branches and a turnover of almost 1 billion euros, PENNY is the market leader. In Austria, its market share was again expanded by the 290 branches. In Romania, now with 99 branches, PENNY showed its strength through rapid and determined expansion. Special mention must also be made of Bulgaria, where a new 28,000-square metre central warehouse was opened in November 2009 and 26 stores are already operating. So overall, PENNY has continued to do well in the most difficult markets in Europe - and through its own efforts.
"Specialist Stores" division
The Specialist Stores division comprises the DIY stores "toom BauMarkt" and "B1 BauMarkt" as well as the consumer electronics stores "ProMarkt". Taken together, these specialist stores in the REWE Group saw their turnover rise in 2009 by 2 per cent to 2.4 billion euros. The 370 toom BauMarkt DIY branches generated sales worth around 2 billion euros. With a growth rate of 1.9 per cent, toom BauMarkt performed better than the sector as a whole. The main factors behind this success were the favourable weather conditions through 2009 and the efforts to refine and optimize the DIY retail concept. The toom brand has been strengthened and the company has invested strongly to expand the branch network. In 2009, ProMarkt grew to 69 branches (+11) Germany-wide and increased its turnover by 2.5 per cent to 551 million euros. Key steps in this expansion were the acquisition of Berlin-based ProMarkt Handels GmbH and the online consumer electronics market "myby".
"Travel and Tourism" division
Running counter to the tourism industry as a whole, REWE's building block and package tour operators advanced their sales by 3.1 per cent, putting REWE Group's Travel and Tourism division among the top two tour operators in Germany.
Despite the overall economic downturn, REWE's three building block tour operators, DERTOUR, Meier's Weltreisen and ADAC Reisen, have continued to consolidate their market leadership. With an increase in sales of 3 per cent, REWE Group's building block and long-haul tourism businesses are the market leaders in Germany and Austria. As for the package tours, REWE Group has achieved a turnover growth of 4.8 per cent with its package tour brands ITS, Jahn Reisen and Tjaereborg. This is far better than the overall market trend for holiday tour operators. The figure demonstrates the success of the business strategy already adopted in 2008. Back then, REWE Travel and Tourism had already begun introducing greater flexibility in its purchasing and sales in an effort to respond better to customers' wishes. The division is also bearing the fruits of a dual strategy to target both early and late bookers by an intelligent combination of catalogue and online sales channels. Another factor is the sharper profile created for ITS, lti hotels and CLUB CALIMERA.
As for travel sales services, this field was particularly hard hit by last year's economic downturn. This meant that REWE Group's Travel and Tourism business segment faced a decline of around 10 per cent on the previous year. Above all, FCm Travel Solutions, REWE Group's business travel division went through the toughest year in the company's history. However, even with sales revenues falling by around 7.2 per cent, FCm Travel Solutions was able to defend its position as the second biggest business travel operator.
The invoiced sales of the entire Travel and Tourism division of the REWE Group, including travel sales, came to 4.2 billion euros, which was 3.4 per cent down on the previous year. This means that the positive trend in package and building block tours could not compensate completely for the sharp decline in travel sales. Nevertheless, the figure does reveal that REWE's Travel and Tourism division has developed better than the travel industry as a whole.
The year 2009 was generally marked by high price sensitivity and volatile, largely downward, raw material prices. "We passed on the resulting price reductions directly to our customers," explains Manfred Esser, REWE Group Management Board member in charge of Strategic Purchasing. "We have continued to move forward with our sustainability projects. This commitment has been crucial in strengthening REWE Group's reputation in Germany and Europe! And we will continue to pursue this strategy in the coming year."
The performance at a glance:
- REWE Group achieved for the first time well over 50 billion euros in turnover
- REWE Group earnings (EBITA) expected to exceed the record result in 2008
- Total external turnover in Germany grew by 2.6 per cent to 34.6 billion euros
- Business abroad grew by 2.9 per cent to 16.3 billion euros
- REWE Group grew by around 5 per cent to 37.4 billion euros
- Acquisitions dynamically drive up growth
- Around 7,700 more jobs in Germany alone
- REWE supermarkets (branch stores) grew by 6.8 per cent
- PENNY in Germany increased turnover by around 10 per cent
- DIY stores (toom BauMarkt, B1, Klee) achieved a turnaround, lifting sales by 1.9 per cent
- Tour operators managed to raise turnover by 3.9 per cent and take the number two position in Germany
Contact
REWE GROUP-Corporate Communications
Tel.: 0221 - 149-1050
E-Mail: presse(at)rewe-group.com
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