El Corte Inglés increased its business figures by 22% in 2021 compared to the previous year
The president of El Corte Inglés, Marta Álvarez, highlighted this Friday that the group has achieved in the first four months of the 2022 financial year sales and results above those obtained in the equivalent period of 2019.
During her speech at the general meeting of shareholders held today in Madrid, the president of the distribution group stated that the 2021 financial year has been the year of a return to profits and a "strong" reduction in debt, a year in which that all business lines have had a positive evolution and in which "transcendent actions to make the company more efficient" have been initiated.
The president has recognized that all this has been possible thanks to the efforts of the employees of El Corte Inglés, who "have known how to respond in an exemplary manner"; of the suppliers, with whom the firm maintains a "close" collaborative relationship; of its customers, who have remained "loyal" and have found a response to their needs, and of the shareholders who "have reaffirmed their trust in El Corte Inglés del Mañana". "Between all of us, we are already building the future," she added.
The meeting has unanimously approved all the board's proposals, after completing its alliance with Mutua Madrileña, which involves the entry of the insurer into the shareholding of the distribution group, with 8% of the capital, and announcing the repurchase of half of the shareholding to Primefin, a company linked to Qatari Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jaber Al Thani.
The meeting, the first with Mutua Madrileña as shareholder and its chairman Ignacio Garralda as director, has also taken place under the new management structure, which involved the constitution of a delegated executive committee, chaired by Marta Álvarez, after the departure of the former CEO Víctor del Pozo, at the end of last March.
Specifically, the shareholders' meeting has approved the annual accounts, the management report and the proposal for the application of the results corresponding to the year ended February 28, 2022, duly audited.
El Corte Inglés recorded a net profit of 120 million euros during its fiscal year 2021-2022 (between March 2021 and February of this year), with which it returns to the path of profits after recording losses of 2,945 million euros a year earlier due to the impact of the Covid-19 health crisis. The group closed its last fiscal year, ended on February 28, with a consolidated turnover of 12,508 million euros, which represents an increase of 21.93% over the previous year.
Likewise, the shareholders have given their approval to the management of the board of directors during the year ended February 28, 2022, while at the same time ratifying the purchase and sale operations carried out during the year with their own shares.
Other points that the shareholders' meeting has dealt with have been the appointment, re-election or removal, if applicable, of the members of the board of directors and the fixing of the number of members, the approval of the remuneration of the board of directors and the authorization for the derivative acquisition of own shares and for the sale of treasury stock.
