EK shows itself fit for the future
After three Corona years and now more than a year of war in Ukraine, medium-sized retailers are being burdened by international supply chain problems, high energy costs and inflation rates, which are reducing real incomes and depressing the desire to buy. Once again, EK Retail's approximately 4,000 European retail partners proved remarkably resilient in 2022.
Review of the 2022 financial year
The Group, which operates in more than ten countries, impressed with a strong entrepreneurial performance in 2022. Frank Duijst, who succeeded former CFO and current CEO Richrath at the beginning of the year, confirmed the projections presented in January. "EK Retail's total sales in 2022 amounted to €2.4 billion, up +9.3 percent on the previous year (€2.2 billion)."
The CFO is also very satisfied with the level of the distribution volume to retail partners at the previous year's level. After distribution, consolidated net profit for 2022 amounts to 4.4 million euros, which is higher than the previous year's result (4.1 million euros). "Overall, the stable economic situation again gives us every opportunity this year to position our retail partners well by investing in services relevant to the future and to continue growing ourselves," Martin Richrath summed up. "In the first quarter of 2023, we were able to achieve the planned sales and are therefore very confident for the remainder of the fiscal year."
The EK Board of Management once again sees the reasons for the good performance in the positioning of the multi-sector group in six business units, which carries the company even in difficult phases. Sales losses in the EK Living business unit were more than offset by growth in EK Home, EK Fashion, EK DIY, EK Sport and EK Books. In general, sales with retailers in store concepts such as Intersport, Libris, electroplus and HappyBaby developed better than with retailers who do not use EK concepts.
Focus strategies are sustainability and digitization
Looking beyond the current fiscal year, CEO Richrath named the current focus topics. "The boundary between offline and online no longer exists, especially for younger people. We are taking this change in the needs of the generations into account and will continue to invest in digitization. At the same time, we are assuming even more responsibility for the environment and society and are raising the issue of sustainability to the top of the agenda. Both transformation processes secure the necessary value creation and the future viability of the companies. Here we will develop further concrete measures across all business units in 2023 that will make our retailers strong in competition."
EK shows itself fit for the future
EK provides a wide range of customizable services for digitization. These include, for example, the development of professional web pages including a web store, the "compravo" marketplace, and the development of online marketing and social media packages for addressing target customers. In addition, retail monitoring services (dashboards) will be expanded with tailored analyses, for example for assortment planning, and data management will also be further optimized.
The Group's ESG (Environmental Social Governance) strategy drafted in 2022 has now been finalized and will be implemented in the current year with clear and measurable targets in the operating business of all business units. Those responsible are concerned with sustainable action and the drastic reduction of the Group's own greenhouse gas emissions in day-to-day business, but above all with opening the door wide to a sustainable shopping experience in local specialty stores.
On the planned stages to achieve the ESG goals, the EK Group sees two fundamental challenges: Creating commitment based on shared convictions among all stakeholders, and significantly increasing the pace of implementation of the measures.
The HappyBaby team is delivering a lot of news: the 360° marketing concept has upgraded digitally, in the familyCLUB and in the virtual shopping experiences via 360° tours of the store. EK is also presenting Compravo 2.0, the next stage in the development of its successful virtual marketplace. The new back-to-school brochure and the expansion of the high-frequency and high-margin retail brand babyworld are just two of many other offerings designed to ensure that the customer journey ends at the retail partners' stores.