ANNUAL REPORT 2004 - REWE Group

14
Proportional turnover by business
in billion €
Food trade 33.86
in Germany 23.15
abroad 10.71
83.5%
Specialist stores 2.47
6.1%
Travel and tourism
4.21
10.4%
Rewe Group's activities are subdivided into the food trade,
specialist store, as well as travel and tourism businesses.
Compared to the previous year, the core "food trade"
business again gained in importance in Europe. As a proportion
of overall turnover, food trade grew by a half of
a per cent to 83.6 per cent (34.1 billion euros including
central turnover). Travel and tourism - the second core
business alongside food trade - contributed a share of
10.3 per cent (4.2 billion euros), followed by the specialist
store activities with 6.1 per cent (2.5 billion euros).
Repeated record results - a billion euros for investments.
The key data for Rewe Group presented so far
include that of the independent Rewe retailers. The results
achieved by the independent retailers in the cooperative
group are excluded from the discussion of finances and
the result position. The following description focuses on
the business activities, including the corresponding investments,
the Management and the Supervisory Boards
are directly responsible for at the head offices of Rewe in
Cologne (Rewe-Zentral AG and Rewe-Zentralfinanz eG).
The figures for the past business year at Rewe Group,
excluding the independent retailers, are encouragingly
positive. Turnover was boosted in 2004 by 4.1 per cent
from 31.9 to 33.2 billion euros. This was the case even
though the number of chain stores was slimmed in Germany
and abroad to 7,860 stores by the end of the year
(previous year: 7,981). Based on the core chain outlets,
turnover per sales floor area improved again in German
food trade. At 133,166, the number of employees excluding
the independent retailers remained near the level of
the previous year (133,923). The earnings before interest
and taxes (EBIT) at 442 billion euros were at the record
level of the previous year.
More than 900 million euros were invested in the continued
development of Rewe in 2004 - 335 million euros
more than in the prior year. The expansion of the domestic
Share of foreign activities in total turnover
in billion €
REWE Germany 29.48
72%
Rewe Foreign activities
11.31
28%
market position serves as the foundation for proceeding
with our expansion into new foreign markets. Viewed
region by region, the emphasis was on Germany and
Western Europe for the investment volume with a share
of 38 per cent, followed by Eastern Europe with 24 per
cent. In Germany, the Group concentrated on the cooperative
promotion programme for independent entrepreneurs,
on converting the HL and miniMAL stores into a
uniform sales brand, and on shoring up the market position
of the Penny discounter chain. In its foreign activities,
acquiring the rest of the Swiss-based Bon appétit Group,
acquiring the rest of the French bulk wholesale service
Aldis Service Plus, and launching the German-Russian
joint venture Marta Group bear mentioning.
Rewe traditionally finances its investments from cash
flow, which amounted in the past fiscal year to over 900
million euros (2003: 788). Thanks to the targeted and
strategic investment policies and good progress in developing
liquidity, bank debts remained nearly constant in
2004 despite the considerable development measures the
Group conducted.
The conservative financial strategy will be maintained for
2005. Growth is not an aim in itself for Rewe. Rewe is
more concerned with attaining profitable growth: growth
with moderation.
Investments in 2005 will come in at around a billion
euros. In Germany, the focus here will be on the Penny
discounter brand, on the full-range miniMAL stores and
on the independent Rewe retailers. In foreign markets,
the central aim will be to bolster the market positions of
the discounters and full-range stores.