Coop Italia has revealed it maintained its leading position in the Italian food retail business over the past year, extending its market share by 0.2 per cent year-on-year to 18.3 per cent during 2010.
Reporting on its annual results for last year, the company said it had achieved turnover of some €12.9bn for 2010, slightly up on the previous year's figure, while its operating profit was around 0.7 per cent of that figure – in line with expectations.
The group's president, Vincenzo Tassinari, welcomed the positive figures but warned of tough trading conditions during the coming months.
'Coop's figures are in line with the market, and it should be added that these figures are in the context of inflation growth which will reach 5 per cent on food products this year,' he commented.
Tassinari observed that pressure on consumer spending would continue to be a factor as a result, pointing to recently published figures which revealed a 6.7 per cent downturn in food retail sales across Italy during the first five months of the year.
He called on the Italian government to throw out recent suggestions of a possible hike in IVA (value added tax) on food products.
'It would be good for the government to introduce measures to revive and relaunch consumption,' he added. 'Theories about increasing IVA on food products would certainly not be a step in that direction.'
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