Paris, France: Stef, the French temperature-controlled food transport and logistics provider, reports its turnover for last year at €4,264.2m, up 21.6% (14.2% on a like-for-like basis).
Much of this came from its fourth quarter contributing €1,136.7m for the fourth quarter alone, up 19.7% (12.6% on a like-for-like basis).
But fourth quarter revenues although up 12.6% on a like-for-like basis, showed a very slight slowdown in growth momentum which it attributed to a slowdown in food consumption in Europe. However, The group is confident in its ability to meet the targets of its new 2022-2026 strategic plan.
Stef’s France chilled segment posted good overall momentum despite the drop in tonnage that began in mid-2022 and confirmed in Q4, Stef said.
“Retail activities are impacted by the inflationary environment, which affects household consumption and slows growth in e-commerce.”
“The frozen activity continued to evolve in a context of high electricity prices, even though there was a significant drop at the end of the year.
“The ambient and temperature-controlled segment posted good growth, driven by the positive effects of the launch of a new contract in June 2022.
“Lastly, the out-of-home foodservice sector is very well oriented, benefiting from the vitality of the chain restaurants market, combined with the signing of new commercial contracts,” Stef said.
In the United Kingdom, Langdons, which Stef acquired at the end of 2021, contributed €51m to revenue in the quarter.
Switzerland posted significant revenue growth thanks to the first contributions made by FrigoSuisse, acquired in June 2022.
Spain and Portugal benefited from excellent sales momentum.
However, Italy was particularly affected by the fall in food consumption, Stef said.
