A raid on the Hamburg-based central offices of German retailer Edeka by officials from the country's Federal Cartel Office (FCO) took place yesterday, just hours before the company was due to announce its annual results.
According to the German Press Agency, which broke the story, the officials seized a number of documents in relation to Edeka's recent purchase of a majority stake in rival group Tengelmann's discounter store division Plus.
The FCO said in a statement: 'It is suspected that Edeka has exploited its buying power against food suppliers, in violation of antitrust laws. Edeka is accused of having demanded 'wedding discounts' following the agreement of annual deals in connection with the merger.'
Edeka has so far refused to comment on the allegations.
Meanwhile, the company has reported positive annual figures for 2008, posting a net retail food sales increase of 4.9 per cent to hit €32bn.
Earnings (EBIT) during the year jumped 2.1 per cent to €1.19bn, up from €1.16bn in 2007, with an operating margin of 3.6 per cent. Turnover increased 2.3 per cent to €36.6bn.
'The Edeka fleet has a clear course, is sailing hard on the wind and is progressing well,' said the group's Markus Mosa. 'The sea is stormy. We have had a very strong cyclical dip (in the first quarter of 2009), as have many companies, but we will emerge stronger.'
Mr Mosa revealed that the group is set to launch 1,450 new stores before the end of 2011, creating 8,000 new jobs in the process.
