AB Vassilopoulos is looking forward to greater “returns” from the strategic planning of network rationalization for this year, while the return to profitability is expected as of 2026.
With a focus on the development of the franchise and small points of sale, the chain seeks to display a dynamic network with 900 stores nationwide by 2028.
Last year, there were some signs of improvement as the domestic subsidiary of the Ahold Delhaize group managed to limit losses, improve adjusted operating profits despite the fact that turnover recorded a decline of 2% in a market that grew at a rate of +3.6%.
As AB Vassilopoulos Brand President Nikos Lavidas said: “For about three years now, we have started and developed a plan to rationalize our network. We have started and are making several changes to our stores. We have converted a significant number into franchises, we have closed stores, we have renovated stores.
What I can say is that we are exactly as we had calculated when we started this path. All of this is done with one main purpose. To be able to create capital so that we can reinvest in prices, so that our consumers can find products cheaper. Because, unfortunately, that’s the number one issue. Everyone is concerned with high prices, it’s the number one issue in the news.”
Turnover
Last year, AB Vassilopoulos’ turnover fell by 1.98% to 1.94 billion euros, a development that is mainly attributed to changes in the network. As Lavidas explained, “when we convert a store from a corporate store to a franchise, part of the turnover is lost, because sales to the consumer are no longer counted, but sales to the franchisee. So we are automatically talking about a difference of over 25% and this creates a loss in turnover. Also, in 2024 we closed eight stores that were loss-making, a development that naturally affected turnover.”
He noted that last year AB “essentially moved at lower levels than the market and this did not help us to increase turnover. I can tell you that right now, we are following the pace of the market and maintaining a stable share.”
Profits
Referring to the gross profit margin, he said that it stood at 25.3%, showing a decline of 0.5% compared to 2023. “0.5% means 10 million euros. Every year we show less margin and this is proof that we are in compliance with the legislation, but it ultimately causes us the biggest issue regarding our net profitability,” he noted.
AB’s pre-tax profits maintained their negative sign last year, however, limiting losses to 14.9 million euros compared to losses of 21.3 million euros in 2023.
Respectively, net losses stood at 15.7 million euros compared to losses of 19.2 million euros.
