On Thursday, January 23, Sligro Food Group presented the Annual figures 2019.
CEO Koen Slippens: 'After experiencing considerable pressure on operations and a globally disrupted supply chain in 2022, 2023 was all about restoring stability. Our basic service provision needed to become better and also more efficient, partly in view of the continuing steep inflation in costs. All things considered, we succeeded, with substantially improved and above all consistent average service levels and on-time delivery.
Our customers needed and continue to need good and reliable service more than ever and we see further opportunities for improvement in this area in 2024. After all, despite the on average great performance in 2023, individual customers experience suboptimal service from time to time, which may be a reason for switching suppliers. Our competitors also struggled with the same issues. We welcomed many new customers, but also saw some leave. On balance, the outcome was positive for us and we gained market share in both markets.
The market is in the grip of change and our customers are increasingly price-sensitive. This is no surprise, seeing as high inflation is confronting them with rising costs in virtually every aspect of their business model. Moreover,
many of our customers saw consumers increasingly pare back spending in the ‘out of home’ channel. As a result, we had to keep a tight rein on pricing policy and support our customers through services and product range choices so that they could continue offering acceptable menu prices despite the price inflation. We believe we amply succeeded but this issue is set to persist into the future and thus demands our continued attention.'
Read more in the press release:
Press conference / Analyst meeting
Comments on the annual figures at a press conference and an analyst meeting on 8 February.
11:00 AM: Press conference
01:30 PM: Analyst meeting
Sligro Amsterdam, Van der Madeweg 39
In our trading update of 18 April 2024, we will go into developments in the first quarter of 2024 in greater detail, and we will publish our interim figures on 18 July 2024.
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CEO Koen Slippens: ‘In the first quarter of 2022, the recovery of our sales markets in the Netherlands and Belgium continued to gain traction. In the subsequent quarters, our customers were happily operating at full capacity again as consumers resurfaced to enjoy their ‘newly regained freedom’ and flocked in droves to visit cafés, bars and restaurants, amusement parks and events.
Two years of COVID-19 led to a major disruption in the global supply chain, and that effect was compounded by the impact of the war in Ukraine. Like the rest of the market, we had to cope with shortages and scarcity in part of our product range. Where possible, we dealt with this problem by increasing our buffer inventories. Happily, we saw some improvement towards the end of the year.
The year was also characterised by scarcity in the labour market and bottlenecks in transport. In contrast to many sectors, such as public transport, aviation, healthcare and also the hospitality industry, which were forced by necessity to downsize, we chose to maintain maximum service continuity. We managed to achieve a very reasonable level of quality in our deliveries by using couriers and foreign drivers, but at a high cost.
Inflation increased by large increments throughout 2022. We were forced to absorb part of these costs, which impacted our bottom line, but to some extent the price increases were offset by efficiency improvements or passed on in our selling prices to our customers. Although most of our customers choose to pass on those price rises in their own prices to consumers, that seems to have had little impact on sales volumes in 2022, which remained very strong.
Despite all the challenges that 2022 presented, we are delighted with the recovery of the markets in which we operate and the gains we have made in market share. Our customers were able to focus on running their businesses profitably again and our employees showed their usual excellence by expertly helping our customers wherever possible. So, thankfully, we are again Moving forward together!'
Read more in the press release:
Press conference / Analyst meeting
Comments on the annual figures at a press conference and an analyst meeting.
11:00 AM: Press conference
01:30 PM: Analyst meeting
Sligro Amsterdam, Van der Madeweg 39
Presentation, 2022 annual figures
In our trading update of 20 April 2023, we will go into developments in the first quarter of 2023 in greater detail, and we will publish our interim figures on 20 July 2023.
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CEO Koen Slippens: ‘Our expectations last year regarding the impact COVID-19 would have on our markets and results in 2021 only partially materialised. On the positive side, when the restrictive measures ended, a pent-up wave of consumers in the Netherlands and Belgium started attending events and going to bars, restaurants, hotels, amusement parks and theatres again. On the negative side, and contrary to our expectations, the emergence of the Delta and later the Omicron variants prevented the strong recovery we saw in the summer from continuing into the second half of the year. Inconsistent decision-making, and the lack of effective action based on lessons learned on the part of the government did nothing to improve this.
Year-on-year comparisons are meaningless in view of the COVID-19 pandemic, however it is clear that we have gained market share in both the Netherlands and Belgium during the past two years. Our resilience as an organisation, rooted in a culture of entrepreneurship and resolute action, again proved to be a huge asset in 2021. We have immense respect for the way in which our colleagues and our customers effectively and speedily responded to each new development related to COVID-19. With that strong base in mind, we can look forward to the future with great confidence.
Measures to cut costs and constraints in our investment agenda ensure that we can maintain profitability at a lower level of revenue, and further reduce our debt position. We once again made use of the support programmes offered by the government this year. Due to the associated conditions, we are unable to pay a dividend for 2021'
Read more in the press release:
Press release, annual figures 2021
Annual report
We will publish the 2021 annual report in Dutch this morning. The English version will be available next week.
Presentation
Comments on the annual figures will follow today at an online press conference and an online analyst meeting.
The presentation is here available.
In our trading update of 21 April 2022, we will go into developments in the first quarter of 2022 in greater detail, and we will publish our interim figures on 21 July 2022.
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CEO Koen Slippens: ‘As regards economic developments and our sales markets, 2020 was entirely defined by COVID-19. The outbreak of the pandemic and the measures governments took to combat it seriously affected our sales markets. The hospitality industry, sports clubs, stadiums, leisure facilities, corporate catering and events were all hit hard. The delivery channel was affected severely, suffering periods in which net sales fell by as much as 75%. In contrast, cash-and-carry gave many entrepreneurs a good alternative and net sales there even increased. We estimate the Group’s loss of net sales to be €0.5 billion as a consequence of COVID-19.
We were able to increase our market share in the Netherlands by 2.4% to 26.6% due to the good spread of our customer base across various segments in the food service markets, in combination of cash-and-carry with delivery services and the strength of the formula. Our short-term focus was also to offset the drop in net sales and adjust costs and investments to keep the cash in the organisation. We were successful in that regard. In Belgium, we retained our market share and offset the fall in net sales with specific interventions in costs.
We also focused on our financing and liquidity. In constructive talks with our banks and financiers, we tackled various potential scenarios and created extra leeway. It was good to note that we ultimately did not need that extra leeway during the year.
The consequences of COVID-19 will also dominate a major part of 2021. If the vaccination strategy is successful, we expect to see gradual recovery from the second quarter on. On the basis of our experiences in 2020, we know that recovery can happen quickly and that consumers will return to hospitality venues as soon as they are permitted to do so. These assumptions lead us to expect that we will approach our pre-COVID-19 net sales levels during the second half of the year.'
Read more in the press release:
Press release, annual figures 2020.pdf
Annual report
The annual report for 2020 will be published on 5 February.
Presentation
Comments on the annual figures will follow at an online press conference and an online analyst meeting.
The presentation is here available.
In our trading update of 22 April 2021, we will go into developments in the first quarter of 2021 in greater detail, and we will publish our interim figures on 22 July 2021.
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Net profit for the financial year totalled €34 million. The EBIT from our ‘continuing operations’ came in at €44 million, while net sales were up 2.1% to €2,395 million.
CEO Koen Slippens: “Our annual theme for 2019 was ‘Back to Business’. Looking back, it was a year where the major strategic programmes required a lot of our attention, while the markets in which we operate also required considerable attention. Falling consumer confidence and stiff cost inflation in energy and logistics in particular created a challenging market landscape. Although our efforts have this year not yet brought the targeted financial results, they have created a solid basis for growth and better returns over the coming years, and we are confident that we have, therefore, made several important strategic steps forward.
In the Netherlands, 2019 was all about a number of major programmes. The integration of Sligro and Heineken and further reinforcement of our partnership, preparations for the transition to and building of our new online ordering platform and ERP package, the further detailing of our ‘Zelfbedieningsgroothandel van de toekomst’ (Cash-and-Carry of the Future) concept, the changes to the organisation to reduce the loss of synergies due to the sale of EMTÉ, and the acquisition and integration of De Kweker.
In Belgium, hard work has gone into consolidating our market position and strengthening the infrastructure and organisational foundations we need for a strong market position. Although the market in Belgium was equally challenging, the opening of our new store in Antwerp in late 2018 meant we were able to grow faster than the rest of the market. The associated investments and start-up losses put significant pressure on the result in Belgium.
In the coming year, we will prioritise five key focus areas from our long-term strategy, which we have captured in our annual theme for 2020: ‘Give me Five’. Besides completion of a number of major programmes, customer satisfaction and improving returns are also clear focus points. ‘Give me Five’ is specifically also about forging connections. Connections between departments and between the head office and regional operations, based on our firm belief that this is one of Sligro Food Group’s main strengths, and one that we have to reinforce after a period of great change. After the transitional year that was 2019, we are heading into 2020 full of energy and confidence."
Read more in the press release:
Download Annual figures 2019
(88,9 kB)
The 2019 Annual Report will be published on 31 January 2020. In our trading update of 23 April 2020, we will address the developments in the first quarter of 2020. The half-year figures will be published on 16 July 2020.
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October 19, 2023
Location: ZiN Inspiration Lab, Corridor 11, Veghel
Program outline:
12.00 – 13.30: walk-in with lunch
13.30 – 16.00: presentation
16.00 – 17.00: end of the program and a walk-out with an opportunity for a drink
ADDITION / UPDATE for shareholders for the General Meeting of Shareholders.
To further clarify the scope of the paragraph emphasising a matter that Deloitte included in its auditor’s report for the 2022 financial year. Following questions submitted prior to the General Meeting of Shareholders we refer to the enclosed letter.
Shareholders of Sligro Food Group N.V. are convened for the Annual General Meeting to be held at 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday 22 March 2023 (the “Meeting”) at Corridor 11 (5466 RB) Veghel
Click here for more information.
The Sligro Food Group annual report 2021 is published on 3 February 2022. The English version will be available next week.
Click here for the annual report (in Dutch) >>>
For more information or a hard copy of the annual report, please contact us by e-mail:
Charissa Kleij: ckleij@sligro.nl