Sawt Falasteen - Ikea net profit surges in 2023 as sales rise

Ingka's net profit was 1.5 billion euros ($1.64 billion) for the year, up from 300 million euros in 2022 when earnings were hit by its pullout from the Russian market over the war in Ukraine.

Ingka called it a "good performance", despite the fact that "economic instability, geopolitical volatility, and the continued after-effects of the pandemic made for challenging moments in 2023."

Operating profit was stable, while Ingka's sales rose by 5.4 percent to 44.3 billion euros.

Ingka accounts for more than 90 percent of Ikea's sales, which totalled 47.6 billion euros in 2023.

The retailer announced last month that it had begun lowering its prices on thousands of items in September to stem two years of falling sales volumes attributed to soaring inflation.

Ingka said Wednesday it would pay out 311 million euros in performance-based bonuses to its employees and 103 million euros to its complementary pension fund for employees with more than five years seniority.

The company said it was committed to further reducing the staff turnover rate that rose during the Covid pandemic.

"We had a 21.4 percent staff turnover rate before and now we're down to approximately 18 percent," head of human resources Ulrika Biesert told AFP.

A.Suleiman--SF-PST