The Board of ICA Gruppen has adopted the following long-term financial

Grow faster than the market

Good sales development and a strong market position are key factors in achieving and maintaining good profitability. This target applies to the Group’s grocery operations within ICA Sweden and Rimi Baltic, and to Apotek Hjärtat.

Outcome 2024
The grocery retail market in Sweden grew 4.1% in 2024 according to the Swedish Food Retail Index (DVI). Sales at ICA stores grew 5.8% in 2024. Growth in the pharmacy market according to Apoteksföreningen (Swedish Pharmacy Association) was 10.1%, while store sales for Apotek Hjärtat grew 11.2%. In other words, ICA and Apotek Hjärtat both reached the goal of growing faster than the market in 2024.

This also holds for Rimi Baltic, where store sales increased 4,2% while according to country statistics for the Baltics as a whole the market increased 3,1%. Rimi grew faster than the market in all three countries.

Achieve an operating margin of 4.0%, excluding items affecting comparability and IFRS 16 Leases

The target level provides room for investments and a return on invested capital, and is at a good level for the industry. The target is measured excluding items affecting comparability and IFRS 16 Leases in order to better reflect trends and performance in ongoing operations.

Outcome 2024
The outcome for 2024 was 3.9%, somewhat lower than last year’s 4.0%. Adjusted for structural costs of SEK 265 million in 2023, the underlying operating margin for 2023 was 4.2%. The operating margin for Rimi Baltic remained unchanged, while Apotek Hjärtat’s margin increased. Lower margins for ICA Sweden (incl. structural costs for 2023), ICA Real Estate and ICA Bank, together with higher Group-wide costs (IT and new business) led to a weaker total operating margin.

Achieve a return on capital employed of 10.0%, excluding IFRS 16 Leases

The target level indicates that the Group is using capital effectively. ICA Bank is not included in the calculation because banking legislation stipulates that its assets and liabilities are not available to the Group. Instead ICA Bank has a target for return on equity that is a more appropriate target for banking operations. The effects from IFRS 16 Leases are also excluded for the metric to better reflect operational development.

Outcome 2024
The return amounted to 13.1%, compared with 13.3% for the previous year. Average capital employed excl. IFRS 16 Leases declined approximately SEK 3.8 billion. However, the performance measures also decreased, entailing a marginally lower level of return compared with 2023. Nonetheless the outcome was significantly higher than the target.

Net debt excl. ICA Bank and IFRS 16 Leases/EBITDA excl. IFRS 16 Leases <2x

A good balance between earnings and borrowing gives the Company the freedom and ability to act, even in times of recession. Effects from IFRS 16 Leases are excluded from this metric so that debt is linked to lending from the capital market and that EBITDA also includes, for example, rental costs.

Outcome 2024
Net debt decreased just over SEK 6 billion during the year, from SEK 20,659 million to SEK 14,605 million. Though EBITDA decreased nearly SEK 300 million, significantly lower net debt meant that the debt ratio decreased to 1.6x, compared with 2.2x one year ago.