Report by the Management Board 2024

REWE Group defies subdued consumer sentiment and poor economic forecast to record a strong performance in 2024 and launches programme to invest 16 billion euros by 2028

The REWE Group has skilfully navigated difficult geopolitical and economic conditions and looks back on a successful financial year in 2024: REWE Group‘s total external revenue rose by 4.6 per cent to 96 billion euros, while EBITA of the RZF Group remained high at two billion euros. Thanks in part to a non-recurring effect, the consolidated profit for the year exceeded one billion euros for the first time.

Our focus remains firmly on the future: The REWE Group will invest 16 billion euros in the future of shopping between 2024 and 2028. The primary emphasis will be on digitalisation, the expansion and modernisation of stores and infrastructure (IT and logistics), and real estate properties.

While other sectors of the economy are cutting back on investments or even pulling out of locations, we are strengthening business in Germany and Europe with our comparatively high investments. We help to create value domestically and remain a strong, reliable driver of economic growth even in difficult times, said REWE Group CEO Lionel Souque, highlighting the positive effects of the investment programme. The REWE Group has also created secure jobs with good future prospects, particularly in regions that have already seen other industries leave: In Germany alone, we hired 46,000 new employees in 2024 and offer a total of 10,600 trainees secure apprenticeships.

Resilience in the face of economically challenging times

Our resilience and broad international presence in the Retail, Travel and Tourism, and Convenience segments is one of the keys to our long-term success – especially in economically challenging times such as those we experienced in 2024. All of our business segments contributed positively to revenue and earnings. Our company is consistently given clean bill of health, said Telerik Schischmanow, CFO of the REWE Group, praising the Group’s performance in 2024.

In 2024, the operating result (EBITA) remained high at two billion euros (+8.9 per cent compared to 2023). The consolidated profit increased from 736.2 million euros to one billion euros. This was attributable primarily to a tax refund and lower write-downs on investments in associates and joint ventures, both non-recurring effects. Growing sustainably and remaining competitive in the long-term comes naturally to us as a cooperative. With these objectives in mind, we continued our investment drive in 2024 with one of the biggest investment budgets in the European retail sector. Our Group is well positioned and on excellent financial footing to pursue our investments and continue to grow, Schischmanow added, referring to the development of consolidated profit, equity (+10.2 per cent to approximately 11 billion euros; 2023: 10.0 billion euros) and net debt (2024: 17.1 billion euros). This also largely includes future rental payments (which are considered debt for accounting purposes) and cannot be equated with financial debt excluding leases (2024: 3.8 billion euros).

In light of the uncertainty pervasive throughout the EU, subdued consumer sentiment, and the downward trend in the economy, the 2024 financial year was anything but a sure-fire success. Despite it all, we can still say that 2024 was a good year for us, said Lionel Souque, CEO of the REWE Group. Given that every business segment contributed to the positive development, this success is down to the dedicated work of all our colleagues. While inflation has ebbed after the surge of recent years, economic prospects remain uncertain and consumers continue to be highly price-sensitive in all markets in which the REWE Group operates.

Special offer items, private labels and low-price products continued to feature prominently on our customers’ shopping lists. In Germany, private label products recorded stronger revenue growth than brand-name products at both REWE (+7.5 per cent) and PENNY (+3.0 per cent). At the same time, demand for organic products, plant-based foods and regionally-sourced products increased. REWE and PENNY expanded specific product ranges as customers became more price-sensitive and demanded more sustainable products.

Clear added value wins over new and existing customers

In addition to further enhancing the product ranges and shopping experience in 2024, REWE and PENNY increasingly focused on more personalised and digital solutions. One such feature is the REWE app, which customers can use to access REWE stores while on the go. By pivoting, we gained many new customers in 2024, convincing them of our offers and services. REWE stores alone had 7 million more customers per month than in 2023, said Souque. The digital customer loyalty programmes launched by REWE and PENNY at the end of 2024 exceeded all of our expectations in just the first few weeks.

A personal, customer-first approach remains the recipe for success for the now 1,573 independent REWE retailers, who increased revenue by +7.0 per cent to 19.0 billion euros in 2024. Our retailers play a vital role year after year to our ongoing success. That is why we further strengthened and expanded our retailer model in 2024, said the REWE Group CEO.

Tourism generates record growth

The DERTOUR Group had an excellent year, with invoiced revenue increasing by 21.7 per cent to 8.7 billion euros, which testifies to how much Europeans enjoyed travelling in the past financial year. The number of guests recorded by the tour operator brands of the DERTOUR Group reached pre-pandemic levels and even exceeded them in eastern Europe. Two trends emerged: Firstly, in light of the virtually daily deluge of bad news, people are consciously taking a break from everyday life. Secondly, the increasing focus on experiences rather than on material goods is what is driving the consumer travel boom. We are responding to these trends with appropriate offers and the right teams, which is fuelling the DERTOUR Group’s above-average positive performance, said Lionel Souque, referencing the strong growth.