Migros Group expands its leading position in the Swiss retail sector  

The Migros Group performed well in the market in 2023 and expanded its leading position in Swiss retail – in both bricks-and-mortar retail and online business. All four of the Migros Group’s strategic pillars (food, non-food, financial services and health) recorded strong growth. 

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) amounted to 286 million CHF (previous year: 628 million CHF). Group profit amounted to 175 million CHF (previous year: 459 million CHF). The company’s result was hampered by rising costs for raw materials, energy and packaging. In addition, a value adjustment of around 500 million CHF was required. This relates in particular to logistics properties, IT projects and various other assets that, due to changes in market conditions, have a lower balance sheet value. 

High equity ratio increased once again 

Migros remains a financially sound company. The equity of Migros’ retail and industry businesses amounted to 17.5 billion CHF (previous year: 17.7 billion CHF) – equivalent to 72.8% of its total assets (previous year: 72.5%). Migros invested a total of 1.5 billion CHF in the year under review, particularly in Switzerland as a place to work. 

Retail sales and online retail – strong growth continues 

Retail sales in Switzerland rose to 25.7 billion CHF (+4.1%). In e-commerce, Migros continued the strong growth of recent years and achieved sales of 4.1 billion CHF (+10.2%). The Galaxus Group was one of the main drivers behind this growth. Its success underlines the continuing trend among customers of buying non-food products online more and more often. Migros Online closed the year with sales of 344 million CHF (+4.7%) and defended its leading position in the Swiss market. 

Cooperative retail – freshness and regionality as the recipe for success 

Migros outperformed the previous year by a clear margin in the cooperative retail segment, with consolidated sales rising to 17.3 billion CHF (+3.0%). The ten regional cooperatives, including subsidiaries, generated sales of 16.3 billion CHF (+2.5%). The key drivers of this success included the freshness and regionality of the product range and Migros’ own brands, which are popular with customers. Growth was also partly driven by inflation-related price increases, which amounted to 3.5% in the food sector.  

While the bricks-and-mortar supermarket business (+3.6%) and Migros Gastronomy (+10.2%) grew, partly thanks to higher customer footfall, sales at Migros specialist stores fell once again (-7.7%). Changing customer needs mean that specialist store formats need to be realigned. The planned sale of Melectronics and SportX marks the next step in this process. 

Retail – Galaxus Group sees double-digit growth 

The retail companies made an important contribution to the growth of the Migros Group, with overall sales increasing to 8.7 billion CHF (+1.5%). Alongside the Galaxus Group (+11.6%), Denner (+4.0%) also continued its run of success. In contrast, declining volumes and oil prices had a negative impact on Migrol’s sales (-15.0%). 

Industrie – inflation impacts prices 

The companies within Migros Industrie increased their sales to 6.0 billion CHF (+3.9%). This growth was mainly due to inflation-related price adjustments, which particularly affected foreign business. This trend was especially evident at the Mibelle Group, which generates 70 per cent of its sales abroad. The search for new owners was launched to improve its development opportunities. 

Migros Bank – interest income drives growth 

In 2023, Migros Bank’s income increased to 827.8 million CHF (+17.7%), with its operating profit after depreciation, amortisation and provisions sitting at 383.0 million CHF (+31.3%). Its bottom line was an annual profit of 313.4 million CHF (+30.3%). Interest income was one of the main growth drivers – due to the Swiss National Bank’s interest rate turnaround. Migros Bank increased its customer base to 1.1 million customers (+10.9%), thanks in part to the continued growth of the Cumulus credit card business. 

Healthcare business unit – successful integration of Zur Rose pharmacy 

Migros’ healthcare services once again gained significant market share across all business segments in 2023, with sales amounting to CHF 1.3 billion (+74.4%). The Medbase Group saw particularly strong growth – following the successful integration of the online pharmacy Zur Rose, it generated sales of 1.0 billion CHF (+95.9%).  

Hotelplan Group – plenty of appetite for post-pandemic travel 

After Hotelplan Group used the pandemic to position itself on an even more successful footing, it achieved record sales of 1.7 billion CHF in 2023 (+20.6%). Despite this success, Migros believes that the company will be able to enjoy greater development opportunities with a new owner and is currently looking for a buyer. 

Social commitment 

Migros does not only play an important role in driving forward the economy; it has also always been strongly committed to society. In 2023, 140 million CHF was allotted to the Migros Culture Percentage, Pioneer Fund and Migros Support Fund. The second participatory initiative on the theme of friendship, which saw various projects supported with funding from the Migros Culture Percentage, proved very popular. Migros will continue to make a financial commitment to culture, education and intergenerational dialogue going forward. 

Migros as an employer – workers wanted 

With an average of 99,175 employees at around 90 companies, the workforce increased by 1,448 posts (+1.5%) compared to the previous year. The number of full-time positions also increased in the year under review (+1,643). This means that the Migros Group remains the largest private employer in Switzerland. Workers remain in demand – around 1,300 positions at the Migros Group are currently vacant. The Group’s commitment to fair remuneration for its employees was reflected in various ways, including the fact that nominal wages rose by an average of 2.1% – slightly above the average for the Swiss retail sector (+2.0%). With 3,670 trainees in over 60 different professions, Migros also confirmed its position as the largest provider of vocational training in Switzerland. 

To the annual report 2023