Mercadona billed a total of 31,041 million euros in a year as difficult as 2022, 11% more than in 2021, and achieved a net profit, after paying taxes and distributing the bonus among its 99,000 employees, of 718 million euros, 5% more than in the previous year. These results have been achieved by reducing the profit margin by 0.6% to face the serious effects of inflation.
Juan Roig has reported that the increase in costs has been 12%, and that the increase in consumer prices has been 10%, two points less.
At the press conference, the businessman explained that this has been a year with a “perfect storm” of inflation, energy costs and the war in Ukraine, and has acknowledged that “he had not seen a situation like this since the Transition”.
In this scenario, Roig has recognized that “at Mercadona we are very concerned about inflation, because it affects lower-income customers, for those who earn less, what affects them personally is nonsense.”
The businessman has explained how customers complain about the rise in prices, to which they have been led by the current conditions. “The price of tomatoes has risen by 50%, but it has to do with the war and with the price of gas, because European producers have come to buy tomatoes from Europe’s orchards and that has increased demand. And we had two options : either not buy tomatoes or sell them at a higher price”, he exemplified.
Regarding the possible agreement between supermarkets and the Generalitat Valenciana to lower the price of the shopping basket, Juan Roig has shown himself open to collaborating with Ximo Puig, but has warned that “beating prices is not viable”. “We will do what all the companies do, we cannot be more papist than the Pope either”, he said.
