Real

Real is an innovative food retail company in Germany, where it is a leading operator of hypermarkets with currently 282 stores. The hypermarkets are distinguished by a product range of around 80,000 individual products – many of them high-quality fresh-food products – and an attractive range of non-food products. In addition to its bricks-and-mortar retail operations, the company is also pursuing online sales. The integration of the Hitmeister online shop into real.de allowed Real to expand its online product range considerably. Since February 2017, it has been offering a very large assortment of products.

Compared to the previous year, Real’s reported sales declined by 3.1% to €7.2 billion in financial year 2016/17. This was particularly due store disposals. Like-for-like sales decreased by 1.0%. After a difficult first half of the year, the sales trend stabilised over the further course of the financial year: following growth in the 3rd quarter, like-for-like sales increased by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Online sales continued to develop very positively. Again, it rose markedly by more than 50% to €105 million in financial year 2016/17. This positive development was driven by the integration of the acquired online shop Hitmeister.

EBIT before special items decreased from €105 million to €80 million. This is due to a decline in sales and increased expenses for advertising and the expansion of the online business. In many food categories, the development was influenced by continuing high competition, while lower personnel costs had the opposite effect.

In financial year 2016/17, EBIT totalled €19 million (2015/16: €108 million). This decline is primarily attributable to expenses incurred by the restructuring of the headquarters.

In financial year 2016/17, Real’s German store network was reduced by 3 to 282 stores.