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ICA Gruppen interim report Q1 2021

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Stable start to the year – but weak pharmacy market

  • Pandemic continues to have impact – weak pharmacy market
  • Continued strong growth in sales online
  • ICA Sweden – continued growth and stable operating margin
  • Covid-19 effects approximately SEK -20 million net
  • Eric Lundberg new CEO of Apotek Hjärtat, takes office on 3 May

First quarter 2021

  • Consolidated net sales increased by 0.8% to SEK 30,602 million (30,366)
  • Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability increased to SEK 1,264 million (1,310)
  • Consolidated sales and operating profit were affected by the continuing Covid-19 pandemic. The estimated, overall effect on consolidated operating profit for the first quarter is approx. SEK -20 million, while the corresponding earnings effect in 2020 was approx. SEK +50 million, driven by customer stockpiling in March 2020
  • Profit for the period was SEK 984 million (976). This includes the net result of divestments and impairment losses, totaling SEK 26 million (-1)
  • Earnings per share were SEK 4.86 (4.83)
  • Cash flow from operating activities, excluding ICA Bank, was SEK 1,775 million (2,009)

Events after the end of the quarter

  • The Annual General Meeting on 15 April approved the Board of Directors' proposed dividend of SEK 13 per share
  • Charlotte Svensson elected as new board member

Comment from CEO Per Strömberg:

“We have had a stable start to the year, and the pandemic has continued to have a strong impact on our operations. As in the preceding quarter, the impact was positive for ICA Sweden and ICA Real Estate, but negative for our other operations. This applies especially for Apotek Hjärtat, where earnings decreased sharply as a result of a very weak pharmacy market. All in all, however, the earnings effect of the pandemic for the Group as a whole is not that large, SEK -20 million.”

“In this report we are also introducing an updated sustainability section in which we report on our performance in our various and partly new sustainability targets in the focus areas of the Environment, Health, Local, Inclusion & Diversity, and Quality. I hope that they clearly and transparently convey our strong focus and high level of ambition in this area.”

Conference call for the media and financial market

ICA Gruppen will hold a webcast conference call at 10.00 CET on Thursday, 29 April, during which CEO Per Strömberg and CFO Sven Lindskog will present the interim report. The conference call will be conducted in English and can be followed at www.icagruppen.se/investerare. To participate, call tel. +46856642707 or +44 3333009273.

For more information
ICA Gruppen press service, telephone number: +46 (0)10 422 52 52

Frans Benson, Head of Investor Relations, telephone number: +46 (0)705 10 70 95

icagruppen.se

This is information that ICA Gruppen AB (publ.) is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 07:00 CET on Thursday April 29, 2021.

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Interim report Per Strömberg ICA Gruppen

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