Cologne. REWE Group continued its successful development in the 2019 business year. The Cologne-based cooperative trade and tourism company increased total external revenue to 62.7 billion euros. The revenue of REWE Combine – excluding independent retail, shareholdings and at-equity entities – grew significantly by 3.7 per cent from 53.4 billion to 55.4 billion euros.
Lionel Souque, CEO of REWE Group, explained at the presentation of the not yet audited business figures: 2019 was a good year for our company. We had a very strong development in terms of both revenue and result. Today, we clearly recognise the importance of last year’s repeatedly positive economic development, because it helps ensure REWE Group will also successfully meet the challenges we face in 2020. Thanks to the commitment and dedication of our over 360,000 employees and our retailers, our focused strategy as well as our extremely solid balance sheet, we are on sound financial footing. For the 2020 business year, we are planning investments at the high level of 2 billion euros, especially for the further development of our business models and the modernisation as well as expansion of our markets in Germany and abroad.
REWE Group: Independent food retail business grows dynamically
In the 2019 business year, total external revenue of REWE Group rose from 61.2 billion to 62.7 billion euros. The foreign share of revenue increased slightly to 29.2 per cent.
The independent food retail business recorded very dynamic revenue development under the umbrella of REWE Group. REWE retailers in Germany increased revenue by 9.1 per cent compared with the previous year. Thus, REWE retailers grew stronger than every other group in the German food retail sector. The number of stores of REWE retailers in Germany increased in 2019 by 92, from 1,718 to 1,810.
The number of employees at REWE Group companies in Germany and other European countries rose by 0.9 per cent to 363,633. In Germany, the number of employees was up by 0.3 per cent from 259,496 to 260,179 in 2019, including 9,374 trainees (as of 30 September). The number of employees abroad increased by 2.6 per cent to 103,454.
REWE Combine: Annual profit rose significantly
In 2019, the revenue of REWE Combine from continuing operations increased by 2 billion euros from 53.4 billion to 55.4 billion euros. This represents growth of 3.7 per cent; adjusted for exchange rate effects, growth was 3.8 per cent. In Germany, REWE Combine grew by 2.3 per cent and abroad by 6.8 per cent (+6.9 per cent adjusted for exchange rate effects).
The EBITA of REWE Combine climbed 49.5 per cent from 608 million euros to 909 million euros. The 2019 EBITA includes positive special items resulting from, among other things, disposals as well as the introduction of the new accounting standard IFRS 16. All of REWE Combine’s business segments were profitable and contributed to this result.
The EBITA of REWE Combine does not include the operating result of REWE retailers, which increased by 12 per cent to around 358 million euros compared with the previous year.
The annual profit (earning after tax, EAT) rose by approximately 18 per cent from 430 million to 507 million euros.
The EBITDA of REWE Combine grew from 1.8 billion to 4.1 billion euros as against the previous year’s figure. This includes a significant positive effect of around 1.9 billion euros resulting from the introduction of the new accounting standard IFRS 16.
Investments in property and intangible assets totalled 1.8 billion euros and were therefore on par with the high level of the previous year. This does not include the purchase price for the Lekkerland Group acquired in 2019.
Equity climbed from 6.5 billion to 7.3 billion euros. As of 31 December 2019, the net financial debt without finance leases totalled 2 billion euros.
Revenue development in REWE Combine’s business segments and divisions
National Full-Range Stores, with REWE, REWE Center, REWE To Go, as well as nahkauf and other wholesale partners, achieved a revenue increase of 3.2 per cent to 24.5 billion euros.
At International Full-Range Stores, with the supermarket and drug store activities in Austria, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Russia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Lithuania and Ukraine, the revenue rose by 8.2 per cent (by 7.9 per cent adjusted for exchange rate effects) from 9.4 billion to 10.2 billion euros. Austrian full-range stores with BILLA, BIPA, MERKUR and ADEG contributed to this with a revenue increase of 2.3 per cent to 6.5 billion euros. In Central and Eastern Europe, BILLA and IKI Lithuania together achieved a revenue increase of 20.4 per cent to 3.7 billion euros.
At National Discount Stores, PENNY Deutschland revenue totalled 7.6 billion euros and growth was on par with the level of the previous year at 0.1 per cent.
At International Discount Stores, PENNY International achieved an overall revenue increase of 6 per cent (+6.7 per cent adjusted for exchange rate effects) to 5.1 billion euros in Italy, Austria, Hungary, Romania and the Czech Republic.
In the DIY stores business segment, revenue rose by 3 per cent to 2.2 billion euros.
Consolidated revenue in the Travel and Tourism business segment grew by 1.6 per cent to 5 billion euros.
