Paris, France: Stef reports turnover up 5.7% to to €3,441bn for the year 2019.
The like-for-like increase for the period was 3.9%. But 2019 fourth quarter turnover slowed affected by slow growth in France growing at 2.6% to €888.2. Like-for-like growth was 1.6%
Stanislas Lemor, chief executive, Stef, said: “The Group sustained its business growth in 2019, with a slight slowdown in the final quarter. This shows the relevance of our specialisation strategy and our external growth policy.”
“Our industrial co-packaging and co-manufacturing business, which now allows us to offer our customers combined services with transport and logistics, has also performed well.”
The integration of Dyad, a co-packing and co-manufacturing company, acquired on 30 September 2019, contributed €3.4m to Q4 turnover in 2019.
The integration of Transports Frigorifiques Grégoire Galliard (now Stef Transport Sens) and Netko (now Stef Raalte) contributed €2.7m and €2.3m, respectively.
“Turnover growth in France was impacted by a disrupted month of December. Growth in the chilled flows business levelled off in the fourth quarter as a result of slowing food consumption and a negative calendar effect,” Stef said in a statement.
“Retail activities saw strong development, driven by e-commerce, with the mechanisation of the Aulnay-Sous-Bois site and the opening of a new site in Aix-en-Provence.”
“Ambient and dry business achieved impressive growth thanks to the ramp-up of a new organisation based on two recent sites, enabling optimal support for European chocolate manufacturers,” Stef said.
Stef international business reported “healthy sales”. Portugal and Spain had a solid fourth quarter, with respective sales growth of 12.2% and 6.1% thanks to their improved transport network, it said.
Italy, which had a good year in 2019, saw growth slow in Q4 2019 due to the country’s drop in food consumption.
