Altogether, 2025 was a strong year for ICA Gruppen. Sales were up just over 5% for ICA Sweden and were driven both by food price inflation and by higher volumes. Costs related to organisational changes and continued high investments in pricing, promotions and logistics negatively impacted earnings.

Apotek Hjärtat increased sales almost 6% driven by rising average prices and a positive volume trend for prescriptions. Despite major investments in IT development, the year was the second strongest to date in terms of earnings.

For ICA Real Estate, the main focus was on supporting, strengthening, and developing ICA’s store network and logistics. During the year, several strategically important acquisitions were also completed.

ICA Bank posted a strong year in terms of earnings, mainly due to lower credit losses. In parallel, total income declined due to lower net interest income and net commission income. ICA Insurance posted healthy growth and strong earnings.

Altogether, ICA Gruppen’s net sales increased to SEK 142.4 billion during the year, up 5.2% year-on-year. Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability and effects from IFRS 16 Leases amounted to SEK 4.8 billion (5.3), corresponding to an operating margin of 3.4% (3.9). Net debt decreased slightly more than SEK 5 billion to SEK 9.3 billion, mainly due to strong cash flows and the divestment of Rimi Baltic. It is worth noting that, even with the major real estate acquisitions, we have reduced our net debt around 50% over the past two years.

Strong focus on price and value for money

During the year, considerable focus was devoted to ensuring attractive purchasing prices for the independent ICA retailers. These efforts included price reductions on a large number of everyday items, continued development of private label products and campaigns under the Stammis loyalty programme.

Increased customer focus on price is here to stay. Despite an increased optimism and purchasing power over the year, many households are still struggling with their finances, an area where we have a key role to play.

While we have no control of independent ICA retailers’ pricing, by providing good purchase prices, we create the preconditions that enable them to provide a strong offering for all types of wallets. The government’s decisions to temporarily reduce VAT on food from 1 April 2026 and to lower employer contributions for young people, are welcome additions in this regard. Lower VAT on food will ease financial pressure on struggling households and lower employer contributions will contribute to more jobs and boost competitiveness across the food supply chain.

Rapidly changing trends and markets

Strong focus during the year was placed on adapting to a rapidly changing business environment and market landscape. Key components in these endeavours entailed simplifying our structure and ways of working, and accelerating decision-making, while also freeing up resources for forward-looking initiatives and business-oriented innovation. Numerous trade-offs were required and the decisions have not always been easy to take.

To increase our own efficiency and competitiveness, we decided a number of major organisational changes during the year. In brief, these entail refining ICA Gruppen’s role as the Parent Company and implementing new management structures at Group level and in many of our operating companies. The changes are aimed at reducing costs and streamlining internal working methods, and thereby, enable growth through stronger customer offerings and enhanced support for the independent ICA retailers.

Major events included the divestment of Rimi Baltic, ICA Gruppen’s wholly-owned grocery retail operations in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We are proud of how Rimi has performed and the strength of its market position today. The reason for the divestment was simple – we have no ambition to expand outside of Sweden and the divestment makes resources available for investments in our home market. The transaction resulted in cash flows of some SEK 9 billion. These funds will now be used, inter alia, for continued investment in strengthening and expanding customer offerings.

Broad social commitment

In parallel with structural changes, we have continued to work based on our ambition of being a positive force that benefits both society and individuals. Our local presence across Sweden entails great responsibility and substantial opportunities to make a real difference.

Our double social responsibility

Higher costs have not just impacted consumers and customers, they have also affected farmers and food producers. ICA Sweden has long been extensively engaged in initiatives to facilitate for local suppliers. These efforts intensified over the last year and included continued initiatives together with the Federation of Swedish Farmers (LRF). This is important work, both as a response to customer demand for locally produced items, and to support farmers and a thriving Swedish agricultural sector. However, they also aim to secure stable domestic food production and increase food security. In the early 1990s, Sweden’s farmers produced approximately 75% of the country’s food – today, around 50% of everything we eat is produced outside the country. Given the developments in the world around us, this needs to change.

Securing robust systems and stable supply chains requires collaboration between businesses, civil society, authorities, regions and municipalities, and the increase in dialogue we have noted in the year marks an important step in the right direction.

A more sustainable food supply chain

The last three years have been the warmest on record. Emissions from the food industry are responsible for a significant portion of climate impact and, naturally, as an important actor in society we have a particular responsibility. In our own operations, emissions decreased by more than 40 percent during the year. We will continue to work on this, of course, but to make a more extensive change we need to reduce the overall climate footprint all the way from food production down to consumption. This means reducing the impact of the products sold in ICA stores and pharmacies as well as changes to the assortment and various ways of stimulating and encouraging customers to choose more foods with a lower impact. The target is to reach net zero climate impact across the entire value chain by 2050.

Påfart ICA

Our community engagement spans many areas. Påfart ICA, a new internship programme aimed at people who have been outside the labour market for at least six months, was launched during the year. Offering training and in-store work experience provides an opportunity for people to find a way to re-enter the labour market. Almost 40 ICA stores were involved in the project at year end, which is being conducted in close collaboration with the Swedish Public Employment Service. The target is for 1,000 participants to have completed the programme by the end of 2027.

Future focus

We enter this new year in a position of strength. We have a stable platform setting favourable conditions for continued profitable growth. We also have a clear vision of how we will continue to develop, both our individual businesses and as a Group. The main focus for ICA Sweden and Apotek Hjärtat is to consolidate and further strengthen their existing strong positions. ICA Sweden will retain a strong focus on pricing and further improving support for ICA retailers. Apotek Hjärtat will continue its initiatives to link physical pharmacies with the e-commerce channel – and concurrently establish new pharmacies in locations close to ICA. Both businesses face substantial investments in logistics, warehousing and automation.

ICA Bank will continue developing everyday banking services in parallel with giving considerable focus to strengthening its position in mortgages. ICA Real Estate will continue strengthening the Group’s competitiveness by securing the right premises in the right locations. Going forward, particular focus will also be on developing the Group’s warehouse and logistics properties.

Beyond business-specific initiatives, we will continue to leverage the Group structure to add value for customers, society and ICA Gruppen as a whole.

Conditions in the world around us and in the market remain difficult to assess, but for the grocery retail market as a whole, many indicators suggest a bright outlook. Food price inflation has slowed and is expected to moderate further in 2026. Signs of increased household optimism are emerging, as evidenced by higher average spends and increased numbers of customer visits.

Individual drive and collective power

One of our greatest strengths is a strong culture in which the retailer perspective, entrepreneurship and the drive to constantly develop are vital components. The ICA Idea, a combination of individual drive and collective strength, has been at the core of ICA’s business model since the start in 1917. Based on this strong foundation, we are now further enhancing our offerings and continuing to create value for customers as well as society at large.

Solna, February 2026
Nina Jönsson
President and CEO