Belgian chocolate maker Leonidas has had another excellent financial year: for the third year in a row, the company posted record sales.
New stores
Leonidas saw its sales rise 13 % year-on-year to 121.5 million euros in the financial year ending in June. Gross operating profit (EBITDA) grew even faster, by 19 %, to 20.9 million euros. Over the last seven years, sales have risen by almost 50 %, while EBITDA has almost tripled over the same period.
CEO Philippe de Selliers was pleased: “These results confirm the strength of our business model, especially as we are also making major efforts to build our new factory in Nivelles.” Leonidas deliberately chose to increase prices by less than the inflation rate, even though the price of cocoa has risen sharply, in order to boost volumes.
It is worth highlighting the excellent performance of travel retail, which recorded growth of over 30 %. French sales rose 20 %, well above the average. The company is also seeing a return to growth in the Netherlands. Leonidas therefore plans to continue its expansion by opening six new stores in Belgium, thirty a year in France and fifteen in the Netherlands. The company currently has over 1,200 outlets in forty countries.
