Dutch food group Sligro said it “outperformed the market” to post EUR28m (US$36.2m) net profit for the first half of 2010, up 4.6% on the year.
Operating profit increased 2.9% at EUR37m on the back of sales growth during the first half of the year.
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Sales were up 2.7% to reach EUR1.11bn, although Sligro’s like-for-like sales in its food retail business grew 4.2%. The company’s Emté banner posted 5.2% like-for-like growth.
However, a reduction in the number of stores in 2009 impacted Sligro’s retail sales for the half, which fell EUR6.5m to EUR355.6m.
Sligro operated 120 outlets in the first half of 2010, compared with 135 in 2009.
The company said it was able to buck market contractions in the foodservice sector and continue growing against market trends, posting 4.9% organic sales growth. Revenue for the division reached EUR759.4, up 4.98% on the same half last year. However, operating profit fell 13% to EUR31.9m.
Sligro executive board chairman Koen Slippens said: “We achieved our ambition of outperforming the total market by a clear margin in both market segments. The group ended the first half with a higher profit and we are pressing ahead with our investment programme which will enable us to benefit from economic recovery.”
