Axfood AB
STO:AXFO
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Axfood AB
Earnings Call Analysis
Q2-2023 Analysis
Axfood AB
Axfood's Q2 2023 report opened with a message of resilience, with CEO Klas Balkow and CFO Anders Lexmon presenting the company's performance during trying market conditions. Inflation, a significant market force, had reached a peak earlier in the year but displayed some signs of easing, dipping from its February peak by around 8.5 percentage points by June. While the Swedish food market grew by 8.7%, inflation remained high at 14.5%, indicating challenging conditions for consumers and retailers alike.
Axfood reported a robust 17% growth rate in the second quarter, significantly outpacing the general market, with its e-commerce segment performing notably well with a 9% increase in sales. This performance highlights the company's market resilience and its ability to attract new customers despite the broader economic headwinds. Moreover, Axfood upheld an impressive, though unchanged year-over-year operating margin of 4.5% amid inflationary pressures and higher market investments.
Axfood's retail segments showed positive developments, with the Willys segment growing by 20% and maintaining a remarkable operating margin of 4.6%. Despite the strong performance, pressures such as rent and salary increases weighed on profits, though the volume growth assisted in balancing these challenges. On a similarly upbeat note, the Hemköp chain demonstrated a 12% growth, emphasizing the company's diversified strength across its business segments.
The company is embarking on a strategic transformation of its logistics operations, with a shift towards a highly automated logistics center in Bålsta. This move is poised to bring about annual efficiency improvements worth SEK 200 million to SEK 300 million starting in the latter half of 2024, eventually anticipated to rise to SEK 300 million to SEK 400 million at full capacity.
Reflecting its commitment to growth, Axfood opened a record number of stores in the first half of the year, which is a testament to its investment in market presence and expansion strategy.
Reinforcing their position in all market segments, Axfood draws attention to a vast inflow of new customers in the second quarter. Their unwavering focus has been on customer satisfaction, logistics, and digital innovation, striving for an enduring market presence with affordable, sustainable food offerings. A strong financial foundation backs these continuous endeavors, thus fortifying their long-term market strategy.
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Welcome to the Axfood Q2 2023 Report Presentation. [Operator Instructions]
Now I will hand the conference over to speakers, CEO, Klas Balkow; and CFO, Anders Lexmon. Please go ahead.
Thank you, and good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining today's call. As you've heard today, I have our CFO with me, Anders Lexmon, and we're here to present to you the interim report for the second quarter of 2023. In the Investors section on the website, you will find the presentation material for today's call and the recording will also be made available after the presentation. But with that, let's get started, and please page -- turn page to Page #2.
And here, you'll find today's agenda. First, I will provide you with a brief market overview and then go through our second quarter performance. After that, Anders will take you through the financials. And following Anders' part, I will talk about the progress we are making with our new and highly automated logistics center in Bålsta outside Stockholm, and also our recent initiatives in the area of sustainability with respect to renewable energy. And then we'll go through the outlook for the year, before we open up for questions. So please go to the next page, Page #3.
So let's start by looking at the development during the quarter, first for the market and then for Axfood. And we are now on Page 4. Looking at the market, where the market growth that amounted to 8.7% during the second quarter. Inflation remained high at [ 14.5% ]. However, the level was significantly lower on a sequential basis compared to the first quarter. And even more so in June, as you may have seen, that inflation on food was 12.5%, which is around 8.5 percentage points lower than the peak level of inflation earlier on this year in February.
The quarter was characterized by an ongoing strong focus on value for money and a high level of activity in the market. Swedish consumers have largely continued to search for low prices and campaign products, and it's clear that there is now a much greater awareness of price value.
But while market growth has continued to be weaker than the overall food price inflation, the gap has narrowed, which implies that the negative development for volumes and mix has improved, so the market seems to be recovering somewhat with respect to that.
Looking ahead, we believe that the inflation rate will continue to decline. But I have to say there is still a great deal of uncertainty and many factors that can have an impact, such as the uncertain geopolitical situation, the impact of climate change on harvest and the continued very weak Swedish krona. Please go to next page, Page #5.
In this market climate, Axfood is maintaining its momentum with a growth rate of 17% in the second quarter, significantly more than the market. Through increased customer traffic and higher volumes, we maintained a very high growth rate despite the significant decline in inflation. With our different concepts, we hold a strong position in the market where value for money has become increasingly [indiscernible].
In e-commerce, as you can see on the slide, our sales increased approximately 9%, which was more than the market growth, which was negative at approximately minus 3%. So we are clearly continuing to outperform both on the total market as well as online. Please go to the next page, Page #6.
Our consolidated net sales for Axfood grew by almost 13% during the second quarter. This increase is attributable to high food price inflation, but also an increase in new customers. As you can see on the slide, all our segments reported double-digit sales growth in the quarter. The share of retail sales in e-commerce was 5.0%, which was clearly higher than the overall market.
Turning to Page 7. In total, group operating profit amounted to SEK 878 million, and the operating margin was 4.2%. The reported operating profit includes item affecting comparability of minus SEK 64 million included in the Dagab segment related to the restructuring of our logistical operations and more specifically the transition to the new logistics center in Bålsta.
Looking at the adjusted operating profit, which excludes items affecting comparability, increased approximately 14%. The increase was mainly the result of strong growth and effective cost control. Overall, this compensated for the lower gross margin in the segment and higher market investments. Higher costs for rents and salaries also had a negative impact on our profit.
In terms of rental cost, we saw these effects already in the first quarter as rents increased from [indiscernible]. However, the impact from salaries as of April 1 as a result of salary increase of approximately 4% and the removal of lower employer payroll tax for young people. The adjusted operating margin was unchanged compared to the prior year at 4.5%.
Let's look into our various segments, and we're now on Page 8 and we'll go into the development within the Willys segment. Net sales growth for Willys amounted to a full 20%, while like-for-like retail sales increased by slightly more than 16%. The exceptionally strong development was attributable to pricing and volume growth from higher customer traffic. Sales for eurocash increased, but growth was not as significant as before as we now have a fully annualized the adverse effects from the pandemic.
Operating profit increased 8% and amounted to SEK 503 million, corresponding to a lower operating margin of 4.6%. The very strong growth in like-for-like sales and effective cost control compensated at lower gross margin. Due to intense quarter with a high activity level in the market, we have not fully passed through supplier price increases to consumers. Also, increased costs for rent and salaries have negatively impacted the profit. And lastly, I would just like to add that Eurocash has not yet fully recovered its profitability after the pandemic.
Let's now go to next page, Page #9. Willys ambition to offer Sweden's cheapest bag of groceries has attracted new customers for many years. And over the past year, the growth rate of new members in the Willys Plus loyalty program has accelerated even further. Willys is a very appreciated concept and customers are becoming more loyal. Actually, Willys is Sweden's most recommended grocery chain based on Net Promoter Score.
And as you can see, actually, the gap between Willys and the other players in the market has widened quite a bit recently. And for those of you who are not familiar with the NPS ratio, it is a widely common measure to rate willingness to recommend, which is a good proxy for customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Furthermore, we also see that Willys is strengthening its brand. And as an example, Willys this year reached an all-time high ranking in the Sustainability Brand Index, which is European's largest brand study measuring the perception of stakeholders on a brand sustainability. We clearly see that Willys is gaining ground among consumers, not at least with respect to brand image and loyalty. And this presents an excellent platform for Willys to build on to further strengthen its position in the long run.
We're now on Page 10. So let's turn the attention to Hemköp. Net sales growth for Hemköp amounted to 12%. In terms of retail sales growth, Hemköp once again performed well, growing more than the market and clearly more than the traditional grocery segment. In total, retail sales, which includes Tempo, increased by 10% and 9% on a like-for-like basis. And overall, growth for the stores in the Hemköp chain was better than the growth for Tempo.
And the operating profit for Hemköp amounted to SEK 73 million, and the operating margin was 3.9%. And key profit drivers were similar to Willys, meaning positive effects from growth and effective cost control, which offset negative effects from a lower gross margin as well as higher rents and salaries.
Turning to Page 11. Hemköp continuously develops its concept, and we see that initiatives in several different areas are yielding results. First, the pace of store refurbishments is high, which means that more and more stores are updated to a modern concept that customers really appreciate. Second, to boost its price value perception and attract the more price-conscious consumers, Hemköp has improved its Alltid bra pris offering, which with especially competitive prices on a large selection of products in the stores.
And thirdly, Hemköp is strengthening its sustainability position, and they do really want to distinguish themselves from competition here by, for example, offering a wide assortment of sustainable and healthy products as well as providing guidance incentives to responsible consumption. As an example of progress in this area, Hemköp has had the highest share of organic food sales in the industry in the recent years. And lastly, Hemköp is working to expand the assortment of meal kits and ready-made food in-store, which is an important category, not at least in times like this.
Moving then to Snabbgross on Page 12. Snabbgross continued to demonstrate strong sales growth in the second quarter with somewhat stable volume trends despite a somewhat weaker market. Sales increased 15% in total and 12% on a like-for-like basis. Developments in the newly established stores and sales to consumers member-based Snabbgross Club store concept contributed to this growth. With the development in the quarter, annualized sales for Snabbgross for the first time actually reached a milestone of SEK 5 billion.
Operating profit amounted to SEK 92 million in the quarter, corresponding to an operating margin of 6.2%. The increase in operating profit was primarily attributable to the growth in like-for-like sales and effective cost control. And profit was adversely impacted by certain negative product mix effects, costs related to new stores and higher costs related to rent and salaries.
With that, let's go to Page #13, and we look into Dagab. Net sales for Dagab increased 14% in the quarter, mainly attributable to sales to food retail stores. Sales to the convenience trade also increased, however, at a slower rate due to weaker trends for that market than for the food retail market. Dagab's profit was impacted by cost affecting comparability, which I mentioned before, and the operating profit amounted to SEK 287 million.
The adjusted operating profit amounted to SEK 351 million, and the adjusted operating margin was slightly higher at 1.8%. The higher profit was primarily driven by the strong growth. And in addition, synergies coming from the Bergendahls acquisition contributed positively. And on the latter, we are well on track into achieving the estimated synergies of at least SEK 200 million annually by 2024 at the latest. On the negative side, back to the profit development was a clear weak Swedish krona.
The activity level for Dagab is high. The largest ongoing project, it's obviously the transition to the new logistical platform, which I will get back to you shortly on that subject. But first, it's time for Anders to talk you through the financials. So go to next page, Page #15, and Anders, please go ahead.
Thank you, Klas. So let me first sum up the first half year. During the first half, net sales for the group increased with a little more than 14% to SEK 40 billion. Store sales increased by 18.1%, which was clearly higher than the food retail market in total, where growth amounted to 8.9%.
The operating profit, excluding items affecting comparability of minus SEK 119 million increased by SEK 212 million to SEK 1.7 billion. The increase is mainly explained by the strong growth and effective cost control, partly offset by lower gross margins in the segment and increased costs related to rent and salaries.
The operating margin, excluding items affecting comparability, was unchanged at 4.2%. Items affecting comparability pertained entirely to parallel warehouse operation during the transition to the new logistics center in Bålsta. In the year earlier period, items affecting comparability included a capital gain of SEK 221 million for the divestment of Mat.se. And then let's turn page to number -- Page #16.
Compared with last year, the operating cash flow was SEK 507 million higher this quarter, mainly due to a reversal of the higher inventory levels reported in Q1 caused by inventory buildup ahead of Easter. We also, in the second quarter, had a higher inventory due to the restructuring in the logistic operations with the new logistics center in Bålsta. The strong cash flow from operating activities was also supported by the strong top line growth and operating profit.
The cash flow from investment activities was SEK 306 million lower due to a high level of automation CapEx in Q2 last year. Last year, also, financing activities was supported by the SEK 1.5 billion rights issue. At the end of the second quarter, we utilized approximately SEK 1 billion of our credit facilities, approximately SEK 0.5 billion less than in Q1. And then let's go to Page #17.
Coming over to the financial position. The net debt increased compared to last year due to higher leasehold debts connected to the new logistics center in Bålsta. However, compared to Q1 this year, interest-bearing loans has decreased due to lower utilization of the credit facilities. The equity ratio has been fairly stable over the couple of years -- last couple of years, Equity ratio at 19.9% was in line with prior year's Q2 trend, except last year's level, which was elevated due to the rights issue.
Total investments, excluding leasehold for the first half year was SEK 327 million lower compared to last year. We see a lower pace in investments related to the logistics center in Bålsta. However, the investments in the retail operation was higher. We have a high ambition of new store establishments this year, and we have already established 8 new group owned store at the end of Q1. And then let's turn page to Page #18.
As I mentioned before, the cash flow for the first half year was negatively affected by the development of the change in working capital, which also had an impact on the net working capital as a percentage of group sales. The reversal of this effect is expected gradually in the coming quarters as the warehouse transition progresses.
The capital employed has increased over the last years, mainly due to the recognition of leasehold debts, which had a diluting effect on the return on capital employed. However, at the end of the second quarter, the capital employed was in line with year-end 2022 and slightly higher than the 20.3% reported in Q1.
And thereby, Klas, I hand over to you again.
Thank you, Anders, and we are now on Page 19, but let's right away going to Page 20. And our strategic agenda comprises 6 strategic focus areas. And within these areas, we have a full agenda for the rest of the year and beyond to continue to develop our group. And I will not go through all of them, but I will look into a few of them. So please go to the next page, Page 21.
We are currently undergoing a transformation of our logistics operations, and large volumes will be moved to the newly established highly automated logistics center in Bålsta outside Stockholm. Our new logistics platform will offer a number of long-term benefits, such as increased capacity and efficiency for both our own operations as well as for external customers.
In February, as you are aware, we started with the outbound deliveries from Bålsta of the dry assortment to stores in Stockholm and the Malardalen region. We gradually scaled up from there and increased volumes going out from the facility. And I must say that the first 10 weeks went significantly better than expected. However, in May, we started to experience some disruptions in the operation due to various factors, some related to the new facility, some IT updates, but mostly related to how we operate the facility and ways of working.
And of course, you have to expect some disruptions and hiccups when you ramp up a complex facility like this one. These disruptions led to issues with deliveries to a limited number of stores, which, of course, is unfortunate. But that said, I'm now glad to be able to say that after making some adjustments to the operations, we now have a stable situation, and we have several learnings from this experience which will help us going forward.
But to maintain a high level of stability and provide greater flexibility, we have chosen to extend the ramp-up phase of Bålsta by 6 months until the summer 2024. The revision of the timeline will, however, only have a limited impact of our costs for the transition of approximately SEK 20 million in 2024. The timing of the realization of efficiency improvements and cost savings will not be affected.
As a reminder, the investments in our new logistical platform are expected to result in SEK 200 million to SEK 300 million in annual efficiency improvements beginning in the second half of 2024, which will then increase to SEK 300 million to SEK 400 million at full capacity.
Going to next page, and speaking of our new logistical center, we are now at Page 22 in the presentation. And I encourage you to save the date for Axfood's Capital Market Day in 2023, which will be held on site in Bålsta on November 24 this year. At this event, the focus is, of course, on our new logistic platform, but we'll also cover areas that are of importance for our group to continue to drive profitable growth. And more details around this event will follow in due time.
Turning now to Page 23. We have an ambitious and broad sustainability agenda and has continued to take important step in a number of areas during the quarter. Here, I wish to highlight and focus on how we, in a short period of time, have realized several large solar energy projects. In addition to building Sweden's largest roof-mounted solar panel facility at our new logistical center in Bålsta and the larger solar panel facility at our new fruit and vegetable warehouse in Landskrona, we have now received permission to build Sweden's largest onshore solar park north of Stockholm, which will be operational within a year.
For a long time, we have almost exclusively been purchasing green electricity to our stores and warehouses. However, our own self-generated renewable energy capacity has been rather limited, accounting for approximately 1% of our electricity consumption in 2022. Now, however, we are truly scaling up and the capacity that these 3 new solar panel facilities will give us is equivalent to 27% of our electricity consumption in 2022. With these initiatives, we are continuing to reduce our climate impact and also promoting an increase in the amount of renewable electricity in the market.
We are now on next page, Page 24. And our outlook for the year is unchanged, and it cover investments, items affecting comparability and new store establishments. For new store establishments, we maintain a high pace compared to previous years. So far this year, we have opened up, as Anders said, 8 new stores, an historically high number. 5 new Willys stores, 2 Willys Hemma and one new Snabbgross store. This is obviously a very important growth initiative for us to strengthen our presence in the market. And please turn to Page 25 and the last slide of the presentation.
So let me try to summarize. In a market characterized by a lower inflation rate and continued focus on price value, we deliver very high growth with a large inflow of new customers in the second quarter and, thereby, continuing to strengthen our position in all market segments. We continue to maintain a high pace of development in the areas of our group -- in all areas of our group and a number of large group-wide projects currently underway to further strengthen our long-term competitiveness.
In our logistic operations, we are developing a data-driven and an efficient flow of goods and a highly automated logistical platform. In the customer meeting, we invest in strength in loyalty, establishing a record number of new stores, modernizing existing stores and introducing relevant and intuitive digital solutions.
With a strong financial position, we are able to adopt a long-term approach and make the investments needed to strengthening our position in the market. We aim to continue to challenge and develop our group to create an even stronger offering at affordable, good and sustainable food for all our customers.
With that I would like to conclude today's presentation and hand over to the operator to open up the line for questions. Thank you.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Fredrik Ivarsson from ABG.
I've got 3 questions, I'll take them one by one. First question on the margin in Willys and the gap between consumer and producer prices, which turned positive a few months ago. If we assume that this gap stays positive, do you expect to see some support to the gross margin as we look in to the second half of the year? First question.
Yes. Thank you, Fredrik. Obviously, I think that, that is to be seen. There are impact -- what is impacting in the market, of course, has been the increase from our producers. Now we are pleased to see, as you have noted, that the inflation rate is coming down. It's more -- we are more flattish on that. Now in addition to that, obviously, it's been a very intense activities in the market last quarter, which I'm sure everyone has seen.
So obviously, there are parameters in that in your question, it obviously depends on what is going on in the market as well. So one of our -- as you know, one of our key measures here is to make sure that we keep the price position that we want to have and driving that also so further. So there is -- it's difficult to answer the question because, of course, it depends on also what happens in the market.
Yes. A lot of factors, obviously, in the question. I understand. Second question then on the Bergendahls Food acquisition. Obviously, that supported Dagab's margins quite a bit in Q2, it seemed like. So if you could give some indication on where you are exactly or approximately in terms of synergies or how much have you done?
Yes. But I think that -- and I think as I stated, we are well in line with the guidance that we've said before that we're going to have SEK 200 million in synergies [ to '24 ]. So we are well in line with that. I think that's as much as I can state.
Okay. Fair enough. And then last question from my side. On FX, given that we've seen the Swedish krona strengthening over the last couple of days. So is it fair to assume that this could be even more supportive to Dagab's margins going forward?
I think it's fair to say that it's needed. We -- as I said, one of my worries I've had related to inflation has been that we've seen a very weak Swedish krona. As you point out, it's been -- the last few days, it is clearly strengthening, which we think is positive. We have a clear negative FX effect in Dagab in this quarter. So obviously, with the strengthening of the krona, we'll reduce that moving forward.
The next question comes from Niklas Ekman from Carnegie.
A couple questions from my end as well. Firstly, if you could elaborate really on your thoughts on inflation. You talked about here a much lower rate of inflation. But I think if you look sequentially, we're still only like 1.5% or less than 1.5% below peak inflation in March, and it was actually even up sequentially in June.
What is your best guess on the sequential trend going forward? Are we looking at stable prices? Or do you see prices continuing lower in the coming months?
Niklas, it's a very obviously valid question. And as well as -- it is, for me too difficult to have a very strong point on. But I think if I look at it and the -- as you point out, we've seen more of a stable pricing right now, even if this morning's number is 0.3 disappointment, you can say that. But I mean, it's a mix of many products. I think the fact that we see it's more of a stable situation at the moment. So if we keep that stable, then obviously, inflation rate will go down, clearly.
But as I've also pointed out, there are several uncertainties out there right now, which obviously see how those turns out. The cost pressure due to the weak Swedish krona towards our suppliers with -- as you know, we have a large share of imported goods into Sweden in terms of food, but also for the primary production in Sweden was also affected by the weak Swedish krona.
The climate change, with the harvest that -- with the [ dry assort ] is a concern to see what -- how that will turn out. So there are factors here that is difficult to forecast. But right now, at least it's been stable.
Okay. Very good. And obviously, I think Willys has benefited a lot from this increased focus on price. Do you see any risk that this could reverse now if inflation rates trend lower and maybe consumers still look for bargains, but maybe not at the same extent, and maybe trend back to shopping at their usual supermarkets? Do you see any such signs now? Or is this in any way a concern to you?
The easy question on -- easy answer on that, do I see any of these signs? No. First of all, it's -- and I think it's worth reminding, over the years, Willys has strengthened its market position and gained market share. And we have seen continuously increase of new customers. And when we track these new customers, when they open up their eyes for Willys, they like what they see and they continue to be customers. Now we've had more of a massive inflow of new customers. And of course, we don't see any trends that they should -- they would leave.
But that's up to us now to work on to make sure that the customer meeting is as good, the price value is as good, et cetera. So they maintain and continue to be loyal customers. So that's what we've seen historically. And of course, our task now is to make sure that they continue to be loyal, and we've seen that before. And I hope and that will continue.
Very clear. And just a final question. This extended transition to your automated warehouse, can you tell us a little bit about the time plan here? I think initially, you had talked about moving chilled and fresh goods into this warehouse during the summer and then frozen goods towards the end of the year. Can you update us where that time frame is right now?
Well, it's not -- I mean we are talking about weeks where we are changing here, but we also -- due to guidance a bit, we also giving ourselves a bit more flexibility. We will continue the dry assortment. We will add on, on the chilled during the -- and then as we said in the winter, we'll do the frozen.
Now that is then -- we are looking at then at Christmas time, you don't want to interrupt. And so we will start that after the year-end. So it's more weeks in terms of changing from that perspective. But it gives us also some more flexibility as we've had some learnings now that we want to have. So clearly just to get it to more of a stable situation as we don't want to experience what we did in the spring again.
The next question comes from Daniel Schmidt from Danske Bank.
Just a couple of questions from me. Klas, or maybe Anders for that matter, could you sort of -- what is the main reason for sort of the difference in margin progression you think between Hemköp and Willys in the quarter? You see margins in Willys being down by 50 basis points, then they're up by 10 basis points in Hemköp on the EBIT margin and, of course, they're exposed to the same market forces in terms of price pressure and, at the same time, increased salaries and normalization of payroll tax and so on? Or maybe they are not exposed to the same price pressure. What is sort of -- what is the reason you think?
No, I think they are more or less exposed by the same situation on the gross margin. But obviously, Hemköp is significantly smaller. And then if you look at the -- we [ have a growth ] rate in Hemköp that had added on this well. There are other income, the franchise fees, et cetera, that comes into Hemköp. So it's not -- it's more marginal on that part.
One thing that we have highlighted, obviously, that we are not fully up to speed on Eurocash in terms of margin support into Willys, which has also had an impact. And then Willys is a bit larger in terms of the impact from the payroll, the reduction of taxes for young -- for young employees.
So there's not -- you relate to it that it's more of a price pressure in there, I think it's equal more or less, but there are some other impacts. And obviously, the amounts in Hemköp is lower when you get that [ ease ] effect how it improves the net margin.
So the franchise fee was maybe a little bit bigger this quarter versus last quarter, that had an impact. And then you're saying also Eurocash and payroll tax differences when it comes to the number of young people you have in each concept, then basically compared to the total number of employees in each concept.
Okay. And another question maybe on the gross margin pressure in the market. I don't think that we've ever seen such a political debate that we've had now, in Sweden, at least not in modern times when it comes to food prices, and finance minister sort of being seen in play in a way that we haven't seen before. Do you think that has propelled the price pressure? Or is this just for sure in terms of the statements that have come out from your competitors?
Let me -- before I get into that, I also want to -- I reminded myself that, to your previous question, we also as you noted had significantly more new store openings in Willys. You can keep that on your -- yes. No, but when it comes to -- I mean, when it goes to the -- I think it's been clear there's been a lot of price activities out in the market. I think everyone has seen it as a consumer. There are a lot of price focuses for every -- in every retail you go into, which is fairly obvious in terms of the situation, the households it's sitting in.
So -- and I think for us, we have not made any specific campaigns of a few products. We focus on what we've done historically that we continue to drive the overall offer, particularly if you look at Willys, where you want to have a full grocery bag to be the most price competitive, and we'll continue to do that. But clearly, it is and has been a very price active quarter.
Okay. And do you feel that, that any way sort of impacted your market share gains during the quarter? Did it abate in any way towards the end of the quarter given that you also had delivery problems or no change? Or what do you see there? What did you see?
I mean the delivery problems, I just want to -- it's been a lot of, obviously, focus on that. And again, I'm the first one to think that was unfortunate, particularly as it has affected a few stores. And for these stores, it had an impact. But if you look at Axfood's total, it was less than 1%. So that gives you a perspective on the impact, even if sometimes individual stores was more affected, which we are sorry that it happened.
So -- and then -- yes, I mean, the -- we are in a market that is very competitive. And one of our most important KPIs is to make sure that we keep our price competitiveness. And of course, that has some impact in this quarter, and we'll see how that will continue, how that will roll out the rest of the year. I think -- and I must say, I think if you look at that and if you look at this -- how intense it has been and how we are still continuing to gain shares and also maintaining a stable financial situation.
Yes. And maybe a nitty-gritty question. You showed a quite interesting chart on the Willys Plus membership development. I think it was maybe in the last quarter or the quarter before. Has that sort of continued to progress in the same fashion?
More or less, yes.
The next question comes from Gustav Hagéus from SEB.
If I start with Willys, it has been discussed partly here already. But when I look at the outperformance for Willys, it's obviously a very strong quarter. But like-for-like wise versus the market, I know that you grew -- outgrew the market by 12 percentage points in Q1, if you recall correctly, and now it's more an 8 percentage points outperformance.
Can you elaborate a bit if this translates to -- or mainly relates to tougher comps or Eurocash, or if we're starting to see sort of the major influx of new client customers and so forth starting to be a little bit coming down a little bit? And also how to think about H2, where you think like-for-like and what this might be versus the market, that'd be interesting to hear.
Gustav, no, obviously Eurocash is partly an effect. But I think it's also fair to say, if you look at the starting point of the inflation was last year at this point. And if you look at the numbers that we reported there, Willys has already started to take some jumps. So we -- I think compared to the rest of the market, we have significantly tougher comps that we are handling now, which is also kind of obvious that as we go in the year around, we are going to meet tougher comps versus the other.
With that said, and I think it's also -- we saw and we have a volume lift. But if you look at the market as a whole, the number you saw now in what was released as well for the Q2, it's somewhat better for the market versus Q1. So it seems like volume is also starting to come back a bit in the overall market, even if it's still negative.
And when you talk about volumes coming back, do you see any sort of reversal towards normalized levels, 2019 levels? Or is this mainly because comps are also obviously getting easier on the volume side? But do you see an absolute uplift in volumes versus sort of pre-pandemic numbers?
I mean for us, and I can also relate to us, we have a strong volume growth. But if you look at the overall market, if I think that's your question, that is still my assumption, at least, even though I don't have -- but if I look at the growth rate in krona, that indicates at least a volume drop in the overall market. And I -- how do I look at it forward? I think some of this will -- volume will -- I mean, food, we need food, we'll continue to have food and I think that will overall come back as we move forward.
And coming back to Willys [ Hemma ]. You mentioned sort of -- alluded to that you've historically that you're taking new customers or new customers to Willys and they generally stick. But is there any signs of different sort of customer behavior from these new cohorts that are quite big into Willys? Or are they adopting the similar pattern as previous cohorts that they are, I assume, shopping more and more at Willys as time progress?
Yes. I think they are -- I mean, you start -- this is classic, you start and you test and then you're coming back more and more. So -- but we also see it's not only, if I would say, price hunter that comes in and shop 1 or 2 articles, it's really the full bag that they start to shop. So we are getting good base into the stores.
And then just a housekeeping question. On the net financials, it's been a little bit higher, obviously, in the first half year than we've seen historically. Is that a good number to extrapolate going forward what we saw in Q2 and similar to Q1 in terms of the financials?
What type of financial do you mean, Gustav? Or you mean working capital?
Net interest costs.
Yes, interest costs. Okay. Yes. I would say it's quite fair to assume that this level is -- yes, good to assume that they will -- we have a good run rate there.
The next question comes from Anna Schumacher from BNP Paribas Exane.
I have a quick one on your Eurocash, if that's okay. You commented that it has not yet returned to profitability since the pandemic, when do you expect that it will?
Well, obviously, first of all, it's important that we see that we are getting the customers coming back. But if you look at the last quarter, it's been a fairly price-intensive quarter as well. On the other side of the border, we have the currency effects that -- so it's been more of a price activities also there. And as soon as we're getting more of a stable situation, I think that will also come back. So -- but that's difficult to forecast when that will come.
[Operator Instructions] The next question comes from Daniel Schmidt from Danske Bank.
Yes. Hope you can hear me. I, of course, heard your answer when it came to realized synergies, Klas, when it comes Bergendahls Food. But it's quite a jump in Q2 versus Q2 last year when it comes to profitability in Dagab.
Could you maybe shed some light to what that relates to? Is that sort of lot more synergies coming through? Or is it sort of economies of scale or sort of all of the above, of course, but could you give us some more information on that?
Well, obviously, they also goes from economy of scale. We have a strong growth, as you've seen, and that is good if you're working on -- you get scale in that operation that's supporting that is helping. Last year, we also had some fuel impact of, if you remember, we had a fuel cost that came included. And we also have some integration costs last year as well. So as we've indicated, as you may remember, we had the Bergendahls integration at the time. So -- but I think scale is one, an important one, and also some related costs last year that has an impact.
Just coming back to synergies then, this SEK 200 million, should we see -- sort of put it this way, should we see a linear development of [ that ] being realized? Or have we done a lot in the first part and then it's going to be sort of harder to get the last SEK 50 million, SEK 60 million? Or sort of how should we view it?
Well, of course, that when we get in the operation up and running, you're getting more of the effects. We got the organization set up. We're getting that structure, that is now more or less in place. And then obviously, the effect is also how -- in terms of how they are developing and how City Gross is developing and our customer base is developing. But then we have continuously steps that we can do. We still are operating from the from the warehouses at Hässleholm. And we think that we still can -- with our support and with our technology, we can continue to drive more efficiencies out of that.
There are no more questions at this time. So I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments.
Well, I would like to thank you for your questions. And I also would like to thank you for listening in. And I also would like to wish you a great day. Thanks a lot. Bye.