Ikea takes the brunt of inflation and shortages


Ikea does not rule out passing new price increases, while costs remain high. LOIC VENANCE/AFP

The Swedish giant published this Thursday the results of a difficult year 2022”.

Customers stopped buying more and more from Ikea. The Swedish giant published this Thursday the results of a year 2022 “hard“, in the words of its CEO, Jesper Brodin, collected by AFP. In value, sales have certainly increased strongly: growth in turnover reached 6.5% during the financial year ended at the end of August 2022, at 44.6 billion euros. But this growth is misleading because it is inflated by rising prices. Ikea had announced at the end of 2021 that it would increase its prices by 9% on average in 2022. Before arriving there, it absorbed nearly 1 billion in cost increases in its margins.

Inflation and supply difficulties impacted salesexplains the group. They have led to an increase in costs and prices. Sales increased in value, but quantities sold did not increase.”

The Swedish giant is aware that most of its customers have limited purchasing power. This is why he intends more than ever to design products at low prices, and to practice promotions on his bestsellers. the FinancialTimes reports that in Poland, the price of some Kallax shelves has been reduced by 20%, helping to boost sales by 50%. In Belgium, he applied a 10% discount on Billys. However, Ikea does not rule out passing new price increases, while costs remain high.

The brand was finally penalized by the war in Ukraine. Shortly after the start of the conflict, Ikea announced that it was closing its Russian stores. Its activities in the country contributed 4.5% to its turnover. Ikea has since cut ties more clearly, separating 10,000 local employees out of 12,000.

SEE ALSO – Germany: inflation expected to rise to 8.8% in 2023 against a backdrop of recession



Source link -93