"In the face of challenging conditions, the Retail International business segments in all of our nine EU markets have consistently and reliably stayed on course for our millions of customers. As a result, everyone has contributed to this sustainable, stable and positive development of the international retail business," said Jan Kunath, Deputy CEO of the REWE Group and responsible for the international retail business, expressing his satisfaction. Total Retail International turnover rose by 10.2 per cent from 15.65 to 17.30 billion euros (adjusted for exchange rate effects) in 2022. Full-range Austria (BILLA, BIPA, ADEG) grew by 4.2 per cent to 7.27 billion euros (adjusted for discontinued operations AGM). PENNY International increased its revenue by 16.9 per cent to 6.55 billion euros. And full-range CEE (BILLA, IKI) achieved revenue of 3.47 billion euros, an increase of 11.5 per cent. The number of employees rose by 3,839 to 92,004 in the past financial year. With a volume of around one billion euros, the investment offensive was continued as planned, even in a difficult environment.

Full-range Austria (BILLA, BIPA, ADEG) was able to "successfully hold its ground in our second home market after Germany - and a highly competitive market in the food and drugstore retail sector - even in what is now the third year of crisis," says Kunath, "the consistent focus of all business units on customer needs has proven its worth." And for BILLA, the successful introduction of the retailers model was the next important strategic step towards even more customer-orientation.

Represented in Austria, Italy, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Romania, PENNY International acts as a local discounter in each individual country, with a share of national products in the range that is more than 50 per cent in each country and even over 70 per cent in some countries. The company also works predominantly with regional suppliers for its successful own brands.

"The strong growth of PENNY International is also characterised by inflation, but to a large extent it is confirmation that we are doing a lot right in the long term and can offer our customers exactly what they need and want in difficult economic times," emphasised Kunath. The number of employees increased by 2,297 to 26,901, while the branch network was expanded by 67 shops to 1,703 locations.
The growth leader in 2022 was once again PENNY Romania with an increase in turnover of 27.3 per cent, followed by PENNY Hungary with an increase of 25.7 per cent and PENNY Czech Republic with 15.3 per cent (all figures adjusted for exchange rate effects).

Romania is an important strategic growth market for PENNY International: in 2022 alone, the number of shops was increased by 35 to 336, and PENNY Romania is planning a further 35 to 40 new stores for 2023, keeping it on course for a planned 600 stores by 2029.

All full-range CEE markets - BILLA in Bulgaria, Slovakia and the Czech Republic as well as IKI in Lithuania - "were in a successful transformation phase in 2022. This has already enabled us to strengthen our position in all countries," explained Jan Kunath. The aim is to continue to grow sustainably in all countries. To achieve this, BILLA and IKI have repositioned themselves in each market on a country-specific basis since 2021. Precisely tailored to the wishes and needs of the respective customers - with regionalised product ranges as well as in customer communication and at the POS. "The pleasing increase in sales - partly due to inflation, of course - also reflects the positive development," says Kunath.

At 24.1 per cent, BILLA Bulgaria achieved the strongest sales growth in 2022, followed by IKI Lithuania with 14.3 per cent (all figures adjusted for exchange rate effects). Full-range CEE employed 21,352 people in the past financial year (+296 compared to the previous year) and the store network was expanded by 24 to 799 locations.

"We continued to strengthen our brands in 2022 despite the major challenges posed by geopolitical and economic uncertainty, cost increases and high inflation. We have established a good market position in every market - and we will consistently maintain this course in 2023," says Jan Kunath, setting the course for further increasing customer satisfaction in all markets. To this end, Retail International is continuing its investment offensive with a planned volume of around €1 billion in 2023.