Mixed fortunes for European retailers
figures in the last few weeks, covering both the key Christmas
period and the whole of 2003. Today we look at three more groups,
based in the UK, Finland and France, which show contrasting
results.
Kesko Food, one of Finland's leading supermarket chains, has unveiled solid sales growth for 2003, with revenues up 3.5 per cent to €3.8 billion. Sales growth at the domestic food retail was a more modest of 1.8 per cent to €3.6 billion, but the Kesko Food operations outside Finland, in the Baltic States, performed much better, with a 35.3 per cent increase in annual sales to €251.8 million.
The food trade is the largest of Kesko's divisions, accounting for 56 per cent of group sales. The company trades under a range of fascias - K-citymarkets are low-priced hypermarkets, K-supermarkets are billed as being 'better than your average food stores', K-markets are neighbourhood stores, K-extras are small rural neighbourhood stores, and K-pikkolo stores are neighbourhood stores located in urban centres.
In Estonia, Kesko Food operates under the Citymarket banner and also owns Estonia's largest discount store chain, Säästumarket. It also has one Supernetto cash-and-carry outlet there. In Latvia, Kesko Food operates under Citymarket and Supernetto chain concepts.
Meanwhile, in France, Carrefour franchise operator Guyenne et Gascogne had a somewhat tougher year, although its Spanish operations performed very well.
Total group sales were 0.5 per cent lower than in 2002 at €1.36 billion, due mainly to a poor second half performance affected by the hot weather and a major oil spill in the Atlantic which reduced tourist numbers in south west France, where most of the company's stores are based.
Stores wholly owned by G&G posted a 1.3 per cent increase in sales during the year to €509.2 million, despite disturbances caused by a major refit at one large outlet. But sales through the Sogara business (in which G&G has a 50 per cent stake) were down 1.5 per cent to €1.7 billion, due mainly to disposals during the year but also to a difficult access to the company's hypermarket in Bordeaux caused by road works and by refits at two other stores.
In Spain, however, where G&G has a minority stake in the Centros Comerciales Carrefour business, sales rose strongly during the year, with hypermarket revenues up 8.7 per cent to €7.5 billion and supermarket sales rising 11.1 per cent to €1.1 billion. The company said that the tough trading conditions in France were expected to continue this year, but that it would nonetheless pursue its expansion strategy, refitting several hypermarkets and opening and expanding a number of Champion supermarkets.
Across the Channel in the UK, food-to-clothing retailer Marks & Spencer has today published its Christmas trading figures, which show a 4.7 per cent increase in food sales in the seven weeks to 10 January but which were otherwise disappointing.
Food sales rose due to the continued rollout of the company's Simply Food format, since like-for-like food sales for the festive season were ahead by a much more modest 0.5 per cent.
Food sales for the third quarter as a whole - the 15 weeks to 10 January - were also up 4.7 per cent, with like-for-like sales edging slightly higher at 0.7 per cent.
Roger Holmes, M&S chief executive said that the growth in food sales had been offset by a disappointing clothing performance, which meant that total sales for the Christmas period and the quarter were 0.1 per cent and 0.4 per cent lower than in 2002 respectively.
"Food performance was adequate and we held market share over the period," Holmes said, not exactly a ringing endorsement of the company's performance. "We opened 22 Simply Food and Food stores during the quarter. Overall, these formats are performing in line with our plans and we are pleased these stores are attracting new customers."
