Tough year: How revenues, profits and losses of Ukraine’s leading retailers changed

According to the data published by Opendatabot with reference to the data from the Ministry of Digital Transformation and the State Statistics Service, RAU ranked five major retail and e-commerce players in terms of revenue, profit and loss.

Last year, when Ukrainian businesses were forced to operate in a full-scale war for 10 months, was a significant test of strength for the domestic retail sector. The need to completely rebuild its logistics, evacuate employees, and create new stocks of goods to provide Ukrainians with the most basic needs has affected the economic performance of retail operators. In particular, it is based on the dynamics of turnover and profit or loss.

The largest in terms of revenue growth

Aurora multimarket chain, which is developed by Real Bargain LLC, increased its revenue by almost 2.5 times in 2022, from UAH 5.8 billion to UAH 14 billion. The chain’s revenue growth by UAH 8.2 billion was driven by the model of super-convenience dollar stores, of which more than 700 operate across the country (up from more than 830 before the war). Based on a fast turnover and cost savings, the business‑ model has proved to be in high demand amid a rapid decline in household incomes.

The second place leader is Nova Poshta, a delivery operator that is actively breaking into the European market. Its revenue increased by almost UAH 2 billion last year, reaching UAH 24 billion. The postal operator’s strong results were driven by the high demand for delivery services when many people were forced to leave their homes or were unable to go shopping, including due to numerous air raids or power outages.

Finally, Tavria V, which develops the eponymous chain of supermarkets and hard discounters Pure, took third place in terms of turnover growth. Its turnover increased by UAH 900 million last year and reached UAH 10 billion. In addition to supermarkets, Tavria V has been actively developing new express format stores for almost two years. The top five also includes Varus supermarkets (owned by Omega) and Velmart and Velyka Kyshenya supermarket chains (both developed by Foodcom). In particular, Varus also increased its revenue by UAH 900 million, but its total turnover is higher than Tavria V’s and amounts to UAH 14.6 billion. Accordingly, Foodcom’s turnover is slightly lower and amounts to UAH 13.5 billion, which is UAH 800 million more than in 2021.

Who lost revenue

Metro C&C Ukraine experienced the biggest drop in turnover – by UAH 5.8 billion, and last year the chain turned over “only” UAH 20.1 billion. This is explained by the loss of several hypermarkets during the war and the general decline in the population’s purchasing power. Comfy also showed a significant decline in revenue (-UAH 3.2 billion). Rozetka, the largest online retailer in Ukraine, which, according to its founder Vladyslav Chechotkin, was on the verge of bankruptcy at the beginning of the war, reduced its revenue by UAH 2.8 billion to UAH 18.4 billion.

Silpo supermarket chain showed a similar drop in revenue of UAH 2.8 billion, but in relation to its total revenue of UAH 70 billion, the drop is not as significant as for companies with a turnover of UAH 10-20 billion.

The most profitable companies

However, an increase in revenue does not always mean a profitable business. Therefore, it is interesting to note that even though ATB was not among the companies that increased their turnover, it was the first in terms of profit of UAH 2.8 billion. Obviously, the model of strict cost control and the largest chain in terms of the number of markets in Ukraine had played a role here.

The second place was taken by Aurora, a multimarket chain with a profit of UAH 2.3 billion comparable to that of the food retail giant. Nova Poshta rounds out the top three with UAH 2.1 billion.

The profit of Velmart and Velyka Kyshenya supermarkets is much lower, just UAH 200 million, which earned the chain fourth place. The fifth position is shared by Rozetka marketplace and Tavria V chain with a profit of UAH 100 million.

In terms of profit growth, Aurora is unrivalled. The multimarket chain managed to increase its profit by UAH 1.9 billion in 2022. The closest competitor in this indicator is EVA, which operates in the drogerie segment and increased its profit by UAH 200 million, bringing its last year’s profit to UAH 1 billion. This means that Aurora has added almost two times of annual EVA, creating the potential for further aggressive development.

In turn, Velmart increased its profit by UAH 110 million last year, ranking third. Rozetka and Tavria V also made it to the top 5 with UAH 70 million and UAH 20 million respectively.

Retailers with a workload

Not all companies managed to achieve financial success. Silpo supermarket chain stands out among those whose expenses significantly exceeded income, leading both in terms of absolute losses (UAH 7.4 billion) and the dynamics of their growth: the amount increased by UAH 5.6 billion over the year.

Novus chain also recorded a significant negative result of UAH 2.5 billion, which is five times more than another foreign retailer Metro C&C Ukraine, which lost UAH 500 million. The German retailer is also in third place in terms of the rate of increase in losses (-1.5 billion UAH), falling behind ATB, which reduced its profit by 5.5 billion UAH over the year (but remained profitable, unlike Silpo).

Nova Poshta is in fourth place in terms of profit decline with a result of UAH 500 million less than its profit in 2021. Varus supermarket chain rounds out the list of retailers with significant losses. Its losses last year amounted to UAH 40 million, compared to a profit of UAH 200 million recorded in 2021.