Vegalsa-Eroski ends 2022 with a profit of 32.5 million euros, 1.2% more than the previous year

Vegalsa-Eroski closed the financial year 2022 with a net profit of EUR 32.5 million, which represents a growth of 1.2% compared to the result achieved in the previous business year. As the distribution company announced in a press release, the realized turnover amounts to 1,362.9 million euros, which represents a growth of 12.1 percent compared to the previous year.

In addition, the gross operating result (ebitda) amounted to EUR 66.1 million. These results, they point out, are the result of improving the “efficiency of the company’s operations in order to contain costs”.

And that is that 2022 was a difficult year for the distribution sector; a year marked by a general increase in costs. With this, the company reduced the gross margin by 0.49 percentage points and increased investments in offers and promotions with the aim of passing on the lower price growth to the customer. As a result, they say, the profit from gross sales fell in 2022 to 2.38%, 0.25 points less than in 2021.

“The balance of 2022 is very positive, despite the fact that it was a period with great challenges for the food distribution sector due to various events such as the war in Ukraine and the transport strike. In this context, we have focused our efforts on mitigating the effect of inflationary pressures on costs and as little impact as possible on the final price of the product,” explained CEO Joaquín González this Wednesday, who also added: “The fantastic work of all the people in the company was crucial in the adjustment circumstances that generated an increase in average prices on an annual level by more than 16 percent,” he added.

salary increases

On the labor front, Vegalsa-Eroski implemented wage increases of between 8 and 16% for the nearly 7,000 people who make up his workforce, of which just over 5,400 are women. In addition, the company points out that they have hired 327 more workers from 2021: “People are essential at Vegalsa-Eroska, especially female talents who make up 79% of our teams,” González emphasized in this regard.

As the company’s CEO explains, they put the customer at the center of their decisions: «This materialized in significant price containment, while the results were good. This was possible thanks to the management and commitment shown by everyone in the company in terms of efficiency in every single process of the organization,” he explained.

The valorization of own brands and quality as a generator of savings for consumers was, they add, one of the main commitments of Vegals-Eroski in 2022. And all this was translated into an increase in the sale of quality own-brand products by 2.7 points. compared to the previous year. “In addition, savings passed on to the customer through Eroski Club loyalty card promotions increased by 15% compared to 2021, managing to pass on €20.9 million.”