Israel's largest supermarket chain Shufersal Ltd. (TASE:SAE) today reported strong third quarter results as it continued to benefit from the Covid-19 pandemic. Revenue in the third quarter was NIS 3.9 billion, up 14% from the corresponding quarter of 2019. Net profit was NIS 97 million, up 76% from the corresponding quarter of 2019.
Shufersal estimates that the virus has boosted sales by 12%-13% with restaurants and cafes closed (except for takeaways and home delivery) and people forced to spend more time at home.
In the first nine months of 2020 revenue was NIS 11.362 billion, up 13% from the first nine months of 2019 and net profit was NIS 267 million, up 77% from the first nine months of 2019.
Shufersal CEO Yitzchak Abercohen said, "Since the start of Covid-19, Shufersal is the only chain that has cut prices and that contributed to our positioning in the eyes of consumers."
Abercohen declined to comment about prices of specific products but said that overall prices in chains had risen only 0.3% since the start of 2020, according to Storenext, stemmed in no small part to Shufersal's major contribution in cutting prices, while he hinted that other chains has raised prices substantially.
Shufersal has also become the biggest Israeli player in online supermarket sales, which made up 20.8% of revenue in the third quarter of 2020, compared with 14.8% in the third quarter of 2019.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on November 25, 2020
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2020