Esselunga, the anti-inflation network for customers and the 500 euro bonus for employees – Corriere.it

Esselunga archives another year of growth, closed in 2022 with revenues up by 3.2% to 8.83 billion, with an acceleration in the second half which indicates a +6.7%. «A year of commitment to customers and employees to protect their purchasing power. A thoughtful decision and against the tide ». Marina Caprotti, executive president of the distribution giant with 185 stores in Italy has just approved the consolidated financial statements together with the board. An important exercise which also saw the completion of the corporate restructuring, which has now returned to the original family structure: the group has in fact purchased 32.5% of the La Villata real estate from Unicredit. With this operation, all the companies of the Esselunga group are entirely owned by Marina Caprotti and her mother Giuliana Albera.

The construction site for a new store in Lodi is unlocked

It was a day to remember for the company because at the end of the board meeting the news arrived that the Council of State ruled in favor of Esselunga for the restart of the construction site which will lead to the construction of a new 2,500 square meter supermarket in Lodi of sales, after numerous appeals from Coop and Legambiente. Despite the complexity of the market, including price increases and interest rate hikes, the company continued to invest, focusing on growth of 377.4 million and also opening eight stores, four of which were laESSE and one in Milan in via Spadari dedicated to the new formula called «Le excellences of Esselunga». But not only. “We wanted to help our 25,000 people – says Marina Caprotti – with an extra prize of around 500 euros each for a total value of 11 million”, thanks to dl Aiuti-Quater (n. 176/2022) of the Meloni government. “We hope it will be repeated for 2023 as well,” adds the president. Then the strategic choice to rather sacrifice margins in order to meet the over 5.5 million customers in a phase of high inflation. “Since November 2021 – adds the president – ​​we knew how the first half of the following year would go, barring the dramatic invasion of Ukraine”.

Esselunga absorbed almost 4% of the price increases

Shelf prices recorded an increase of 5.5%, against inflation received from suppliers of approximately 9%. In practice, Esselunga has absorbed almost 4% of the price increases. “This commitment has been recognized in part because in the face of a contraction in volumes of 3.4% in large-scale distribution we travel at minus 1%”, says Gabriele Villa, general manager of the group. Of course, the shopping cart «is becoming impoverished and for the first time we are witnessing a decisive shift towards first-price products. But customers remain loyal, as evidenced by the 24% growth of our Smart line», adds Villa. Now that commitment in 2022 can be seen in the group’s margins: the EBITDA has dropped to 501.4 million from 689.7 in 2021.

The cost of energy

The cost of energy also weighed, almost doubling to 170 million compared to the previous year. And the final bill could have been heavier if there hadn’t been the contribution of the tax credit to contain the expensive energy that is still being felt, with the hope – says the company – that in this complicated moment it can be renewed, for the benefit of companies and employees. From the second part of the year, margins started to rise again after the inevitable transfer of some price increases. Esselunga looks ahead, prepares openings and confirms investments also in 2023: after the store inaugurated in Albenga (Savona) it is the turn of the second store in Genoa in the San Benigno district at the end of May and the fourth in Rome, in June, in viale Liège (fifth in Lazio). The company hopes that it will be able to open in the city of Marino, «provided that the Municipality expresses itself on the Palaghiaccio project». Esselunga broadens the horizon. In October it will repay 500 million to investors for the 2017 bond. Now only the one maturing in 2027 remains.