Allemagne

Food in supermarkets is too cheap: a message that you would expect from farmers or fairtrade organisations, but this time it comes from German discounter Penny. A lot of food products would cost twice as much if the damage to the environment is included, and the retailer therefore doubles some of its prices.

Olaf Koch, CEO of German retailer Metro, is resigning at the end of the year. As he will not complete his current term that only ends in 2022, the German retail giant will have to quickly start looking for a successor.

Ceconomy (the former Metro branch that owns electronics chains Media Markt and Saturn) has announced a thorough restructuring, which may cause up to 3,500 jobs being cut and several stores closed all over Europe.

To recover from the Covid crisis, fashion chain Esprit has to cut costs. Half of its 100 stores in Germany will be closed, 1100 people will lose their jobs. A further 100 jobs will also be lost in the headquarters in Hong Kong.

Apcoa wants to turn its European network of car parks into distribution centres, where parcels are put into cargo bikes for deliveries in city centres. These should profit from a reduction in congestion and pollution.

German Henkel saw its sales decline slightly because of the coronavirus crisis, as hair salons and automobile manufacturers were forced to close. The soap and washing powder category did perform well, so much so that the Persil manufacturer increased its soap supply by 30 %.

Puma has seen its profits fall by nearly 62 % in the first quarter, while its revenue only fell by 1.3 %. E-commerce managed to save part of the sports brand's performance, but it looks like worse is yet to come.