Metcash reports a 10% increase to $8.3 billion in supermarket sales for the year ended 30 April 2021. This is an 11.6% increase excluding the impact of Drakes.
Metcash Group CEO Jeff Adams describes the last 12 months as “standout year” for the business, with record sales underpinning significant earnings growth and record operating cashflow.
“All Pillars performed strongly, and the Group has successfully navigated significant challenges and uncertainty associated with Covid, while continuing to implement our MFuture growth initiatives,” he says.
“The early success of our MFuture initiatives laid the foundations for a very successful year for Metcash and our independent retailers, with their improved competitiveness being a key factor in the retention of new and returning customers gained though Covid. This, together with the continuation of an increased preference for local neighbourhood shopping and the migration from cities to regional areas, has driven strong sales growth across our independent retail networks, significantly improving their overall health.”
The latest results include a 16.7% increase for the 10 months to February 2021, and an 8% decrease in March/April 2021 sales (excluding Drakes impact). This is compared with the same period in FY20 which included peak demand from the impact of Covid-related trading restrictions.
Strong sales growth was delivered in all states, particularly Victoria where demand was impacted by extended Covid-related lockdowns.
The IGA retail network, says Metcash, continued to benefit from a shift in consumer behaviour. This included an increased preference for local neighbourhood shopping, migration from cities to regional areas, more flexible working and cooking at home, and the success of MFuture initiatives to retain new and returning customers gained throughout Covid-19.
Performance-wise, the IGA retail network performed strongly with like-for-like sales increasing 10.5% compared with the prior comparative year.