– We take from others while others take from themselves, says Odd Reitan.
Right now
The family company Reitan AS increased its turnover to almost NOK 143 billion last year.
– There is an increase of 13 billion. For me it’s a completely wild number, really, but that’s how it is and it feels strong, says CEO and owner Odd Reitan.
At the same time, profit before tax fell to NOK 559 million. Two years ago, the figure was 5.5 billion.
– What do you think about it?
– I understand the question, but as long as the underlying operations are good, it doesn’t matter that much.
The “Colonimajoren” refers to one-off effects from the acquisition of Aldi in Denmark and Entra in Trondheim, as well as large write-downs in a tough property market. Reitan Eiendom adjusted down the value of its portfolio by NOK 2.7 billion.
– Next year we will hopefully see the results of the measures we have taken, he says.
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– Can change signs and call it growth
In addition to property, Reitan AS consists of the capital and retail business areas.
Investments under capital achieved a record return of 16.4 per cent, corresponding to NOK 1.3 billion.
In Reitan Retail, chief executive and Odd Reitan’s son Ole Robert Reitan is concerned that they take market shares in both Norway and Denmark.
The percentage rose by 0.3 percentage points in Norway. In Denmark, they gained over one percentage point, as they have done for the last 13 years, he says.
At the weekend, Coop Extra was out in E24 and stated that it is only a matter of time before they are the country’s largest chain. Rema 1000 lost that title last year. Kiwi became the largest for the first time.
– How important is it to take that place back?
– We are a challenger and can do very little about the strategic choices Norgesgruppen and Coop make. And then it is difficult to compete with someone who can change the sign and say that the chain is growing. We actually have to build a shop, says Ole Robert Reitan.
Extra has grown a lot through the acquisition of Ica and Rimi, as well as the rebranding of its own Prix stores.
Odd Reitan emphasizes that they only have one grocery concept.
– We take from others while others take from themselves, he says.
Balanced out
When Ole Robert Reitan presented the annual results last time, he talked about a price level that was not sustainable.
The background was what happened on 1 February, when the grocery chains received new, higher prices from their suppliers. It was speculated at 10 percent. Then Kiwi dropped doing anything, the competitors followed suit, and for many weeks the grocery chains’ prices were not adjusted for much higher purchase prices.
The result now shows that Rema 1000 Norway had an operating margin of the “fixed” 3.5 percent (3.44 to be exact).
– Does that mean that you were able to bring in juicy margins over the course of the year?
– In any case, it balanced out to a level that could be defended. But it was a rough winter and the competition is no less now than last year. Gravity still applies in the market.
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