Jumbo – Vakakis lets barbs at Competition Commission – 2021 was a lost year

Consumer confidence in the products and services of the Jumbo Group, led to a sales increase of about + 0.7% for the month of July 2021 despite the apparent lack of a full range of products due to disruption of the supply chain and the cost of raw materials materials, as is noted by the company in a relevant announcement.

For the first seven months of the year (January-July 2021), the total sales for the Group record an increase of about + 10% compared to the corresponding figures for last year. In particular, the following are mentioned:

In Greece:

In July 2021, all the Group’s physical stores in Greece continued to operate, with restrictions on the number of in-store customers, showing an increase, together with the online store, by approximately + 2% compared to July 2020.
However, the controlled restriction of the company’s exports of goods to the 6 countries in which the Group is present through partnerships (Albania, Kosovo, Serbia, Northern Macedonia, Bosnia, and Montenegro), led to the net sales of the parent company in July 2021 – without calculating intra-corporate transactions –  with a final result being a small decrease of -0.7%, compared to July 2020. Overall, the net sales of the parent company – excluding intra-corporate transactions – for the seven months of the year (January -July 2021) are increased by about + 3% compared to the corresponding period last year.

In Cyprus:

All stores continued to operate with restrictions on the number of customers indoors. However, due to the reinstatement of measures that prevent or periodically exclude customers coming from abroad, sales in July 2021 appear reduced by about -3%, compared to the corresponding month last year. Nevertheless, sales in the seven months of 2021 increased by about + 12%, compared to the same period last year.

In Bulgaria:

The stores continued to operate with a limited number of customers inside. The sales of the network record an increase of + 11% in July 2021, compared to the corresponding month last year. As a result, sales in the seven months of 2021 increased by about + 16%, compared to the same period last year.

In Romania:

In July 2021, all Jumbo stores in the country continued to operate normally. The sales of the network recorded a marginal increase of approximately + 1.84%. It is noted that the monthly performance is not directly comparable to the corresponding month last year as in 2020 due to the restrictions imposed for the first time then, the momentum recorded during the restart of the market was stronger. The average performance of the country is better reflected in sales for the seven month period of 2021 where they increased by about + 28%, compared to the corresponding period last year.

The market situation

As the management had pointed out, since mid-June, during the recent Scheduled General Meeting, the global supply chain has been disrupted, violently upsetting the balances of years.

Recent developments in the supply chain and transport costs are an additional concern. Instead of stabilizing and gradually returning to sustainable levels, the situation is getting worse.

The market suffers from unfair practices and partnerships between logistics companies that manage the availability of containers used to transport goods. No government agent internationally and no competition committee makes a substantial intervention to break the informal cartel.

The first result of these practices is the -unreasonable- fares in transport that are maintained at extraordinarily high levels, with various excuses and pretexts that convince no one but the clinically naive.

Finally, the combination of the disrupted supply chain and the rapid spread of the Covid 19 virus with the Delta mutation, creates an environment where, certainly , makes 2021, another lost year, in terms of profitability, always compared to 2019.

Unless there is a spectacular change in the current situation, unfortunately – it is very likely that 2022 will be an equally lost year respecdtive to 2019.

Nevertheless, in the turbulent, extremely complex, opaque and unstable environment – without the prospect of growth in terms of profitability – the management of the Jumbo Group is working hard so that:

1. not to alter the character and principles for which Jumbo stands towards consumers regarding the price relative to the offered product but also

2. to remain loyal to its shareholders-partners by maintaining its dividend distribution policy every year.