After a positive start to the year, Swedish retailer ICA Gruppen continued its growth trajectory in the second quarter as it welcomed more shoppers and food prices stabilized.
Consolidated net sales increased 5.3% to SEK 39.8 billion (EUR 3.45 billion) in the second quarter, compared to SEK 37.8 billion (EUR 3.28 billion) in the same period in 2023, the company said.
The pharmacy chain Apotek Hjärtat consolidated its position as Sweden’s largest pharmacy with sales increasing from SEK 4.8 billion (EUR 420 million) last year to SEK 5.4 billion (EUR 470 million).
CEO Nina Jönsson said: “Continued declining food price inflation means that growth is now fully driven by higher volumes. Apotek Hjärtat also continues to gain market share and maintains its good earnings performance.”
“ICA’s growth has been outperforming the market for almost a year. Month after month, we see clear results from the long-term price investments made by ICA Sweden and ICA retailers.”
Quarterly Highlights
Despite higher sales and the implementation of efficiency improvement measures, ICA Sweden’s profit for the quarter fell slightly to SEK 925 million (EUR 80.2 million) compared to SEK 927 million (EUR 80.4 million) in the same period last year.
The operating result of ICA Sweden, which sells goods to ICA retailers, was affected by the price investments made by ICA Sweden during the year.
Net sales at Rimi Baltic, which saw higher customer traffic and market share during the quarter, increased to SEK 5.5 billion (EUR 480 million) from SEK 5.3 billion (EUR 460 million) a year earlier.
The company has also successfully issued a green bond worth SEK 2 billion (EUR 170 million).
Jönsson added: “Despite the difficult global situation, we have experienced stable price developments during the quarter. Price will continue to be a very important factor for our customers and competition in the market is intense.”
“We are confident that we can continue our positive development by setting the right price while leveraging our combined ability to create attractive and relevant offerings across our various business areas.”
