The news was not good this week for Colruyt. Wednesday was held a meeting of shareholders during which Jef Colruyt, president of the group, was not the most optimistic. Indeed, he expects the consolidated result of his accounting year which runs until the end of March 2023 “to decrease considerably” compared to that of 2021-2022.
In his speech, the president pointed to the drop in volumes in food stores and his company’s low-price policy which does not allow him to fully pass on price inflation to the customer. “The inflationary pressure also leads to a significant increase in the group’s costs, the expected effect exceeding 200 million euros. These are mainly costs related to energy, transport and personnel. These have a significant impact given the automatic wage indexation system in Belgium,” adds Colruyt.
In the 2021-2022 financial year, Colruyt had made a profit of 288 million euros, a decrease of 25% compared to the previous financial year. The turnover had however climbed by 1.2%, to 10 billion euros.
In addition to supermarkets, Colruyt brings together the brands OKay, Bio-Planet, Dreamland, DATS 24 petrol stations and the fitness chain Jims.
Low prices
At the same time, however, customers are reassured about the primary promise of its supermarkets. While many brands are in open war with suppliers, resulting in the absence of certain products from their shelves, Colruyt indicates for its part that it is on good terms with everyone. “This allows us to continue to deliver on our promise of lowest prices,” food retail manager Jo Willemyns assures De Tijd.