Action reaches record heights despite Covid restrictions

Despite forced store closures in several countries, Dutch non-food discounter Action has once again achieved a record profit and turnover.

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Turnover rose by a quarter to 6.8 billion euros, while operational profit went up by a third to 828 million euros. This growth came despite the severe Covid restrictions in Austria, Germany and the Netherlands, which kept stores closed for months. Moreover, Action does not have an elaborate e-commerce channel to compensate for offline revenue losses.

The company’s growth is largely due to the opening of new stores: last year, the chain opened 250 new stores and almost made it to the 2,000 mark – which it did reach earlier this month with a store in Prague. Action’s aim is to continue expanding rapidly over the next few years, including the accession to a tenth market in Spain.

Action was bought by British investment fund 3i in 2011, for barely half a billion euros. That proved to be a stroke of genius, as the retail chain is now valued at 14.9 billion euros and already earned its owner 2.8 billion euros in dividends since its acquisition.