Housewares Business-to-business magazine for housewares retailers and their suppliers
The IKEA Group’s net income amounted to Euro 3.3 billion in its financial year 2014.
Total sales increased by 5.9% (adjusted for currency impact) from last year to Euro 28.7 billion. Together with the rental income from the company’s shopping centre business, total revenue amounted to Euro 29.3 billion – up 2.8% on the previous year.
The international homewares chain gained share in almost all markets and entered a new country: Croatia. The largest markets in terms of sales were Germany, US, France, Russia and the UK. In addition, there were 716 million visits to the IKEA Group stores and more than 1.5 billion visits to IKEA.com.
IKEA Group president and chief executive Peter Agnefjäll said: “Financial year 2014 was a good year for IKEA. I’m happy to see increased growth in all our sales channels; in existing stores, in the opening of new stores and in e-commerce. We reached some important milestones towards becoming energy independent and saw a 58% increase in the sales value of products that enable people to live a more sustainable life at home. Sustainability is an integral part of our business strategy.”
He added: “We have an ambitious growth agenda and at the same time we’re determined to have a positive impact on people and the planet. Our size gives us a unique opportunity to make a difference and contribute to positive change in society, for instance by making energy-efficient lighting both affordable and attractive for millions of people.”
Within its own operations, the IKEA Group produced renewable energy equivalent to 42% of the total energy consumed and aims by the end of 2015 to have invested and committed to invest Euro 1.5 billion in renewable energy projects, mainly offsite wind farms and photovoltaic panels.
During the year, the retailer set aside Euro 200 million for a new staff loyalty programme and increased the amount of its One IKEA Bonus Program by Euro 98 million.
Peter Agnefjäll said: “A key factor to our strong performance is that we have a long-term view, and don’t aim to maximise short-term profits. We strive to continuously create better products at lower prices to our customers and to make substantial investments in our future ”
The IKEA Group employs 147, 000 co-workers across 318 stores in 28 markets and operations in 43 countries. E-commerce is offered in 13 markets. There are more than 40 stores run by franchisees outside the IKEA Group.
