Colruyt N : Annual report with sustainability reporting 2021/22

Annual Report

with sustainability reporting

2021/22

1

Halle, 10 June 2022

FINANCIAL YEAR 2021/22

Annual report presented by the Board of Directors to the Ordinary General Meeting of Shareholders

of 28 September 2022 and Independent auditor's report

The Dutch annual report in the European Single Electronic Format (ESEF) is the only official version.

Dit jaarverslag is ook verkrijgbaar in het Nederlands.

Ce rapport annuel est également disponible en français.

This Annual report is also available on colruytgroup.com/en/annualreport. Our corporate website also includes all press releases, extra stories and background information.

2

Intro

4 Word from the Chairman

6 Continuity

8 Who are we?

14 Our vision on sustainability

21 Management report

29 Key figures

Activities

39 Retail

80 Wholesale

86 Foodservice

90 Other activities

101 Group support activities

Corporate governance

119 Governance, supervision and management

123 Sustainable corporate governance

144 Share ownership and Colruyt shares

Corporate sustainability

154 SDG 2 - Zero hunger

156 SDG 3 - Good health and well-being

160 SDG 6 - Clean water and sanitation

162 SDG 7 - Affordable and clean energy

164 SDG 8 - Decent work and economic growth

170 SDG 12 - Responsible consumption and production

176 SDG 13 - Climate action

180 EU Taxonomy

184 Our indicators

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Financial report

1. Consolidated income statement
2. Consolidated statement of comprehensive income
3. Consolidated statement of financial position
4. Consolidated statement of cash flows
5. Consolidated statement of changes in equity

1. Management responsibility statement
2. Independent auditor's report

210 Notes to the consolidated financial statements

276 Definitions

3

Word from the

Chairman

Like the previous one, the 2021/22 financial year was a challenging period, with the worldwide pandemic impacting our business in various ways. In this uncertain context, we also had to cope with the consequences of the July 2021 flood and the conflict in Ukraine. Given these trying circumstances, we take pride in having shown sufficient flexibility and creativity to continue to function properly. Despite raw material shortages, disrupted production chains and logistical obstacles, we continued to fulfil our social role, with food supplies never really compromised. In doing so, we also maintained our role as guardian of customers' purses, despite higher wholesale prices and lengthier negotiations with suppliers at the end of the financial year. We did this with a continuing focus on simplicity and efficiency.

I am proud of our employees who were there, day in, day out, to serve our customers to the best of their ability, both on the front line and behind the scenes. During periods of illness and quarantine, we noted a heart-warming wave of solidarity among the stores. Moreover, headquarters staff jumped in en masse to handle the end-of-year peak. In the wake of the widespread flooding in mid-2021, our technical department ensured that the stores concerned were able to reopen in record time. In addition, we took many initiatives benefiting the victims of the catastrophic events here and abroad.

In a complex and challenging context, we were still able to close the financial year in a satisfactory way. Our Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay and Spar formulas were able to consolidate their combined market share in Belgium. The divergent performance of our diversified brand portfolio resulted in a 1,2% increase in group sales to just over 10 billion euros. The net result closed significantly lower at 2,9% of sales. In the coming financial year, Colruyt Lowest Prices will be continuing its longstanding lowest price strategy, while all of our brands remain committed to efficiency, service, friendly staff, quality products and services.

Colruyt Group continued to invest heavily in the future, spending 488 million euros on new stores and renovations, production buildings, machines, rolling stock and a wide range of IT software and platforms. Examples include the new Collect&Go distribution centre in Londerzeel, the Fine Food salad factory, the office building in Zwijnaarde and some fifteen transformation programmes preparing us for the digital future through even more efficient systems and processes. In addition, we continued to expand the Colruyt Group ecosystem through a number of acquisitions, inter alia Newpharma, Foodbag, Roelandt Group, JIMS and Culinoa, thereby strengthening our ambitions in such areas as e-commerce, vertical integration, health and sustainability.

4	INTRO | Word from the Chairman • Continuity • Who are we? • Our vision on sustainability • Management report • Key figures	4

Change was the order of the day in the past financial year and will continue to be so, partly due to unpredictable events, but also due to evolving customer needs or sustainability standards. But whatever happens, as a retailer we will continue to ensure the availability of affordable food, our core task both today and tomorrow. At the same time, as a key Belgian player, we are helping to find solutions to major social, economic and environmental issues where we, together with our customers, staff and partners, can really make a difference. However, today's challenges with regard to soil, energy or climate are so urgent and comprehensive that we need more than ever a government able to take hard decisions. We therefore wish our politicians the courage to take swift and decisive action for the benefit of our planet.

In an ever-faster digitalisation context, we are responding to evolving customer needs with innovative digital concepts and services. For example, OKay Direct is the first self-service store where customers can shop completely autonomously 24/7. And since mid-2022, Collect&Go has been offering home deliveries in densely populated cities like

Brussels and Antwerp.

As a Belgian retailer, we continued to help promote domestic production, often in close cooperation with various partners throughout the chain. Following the acquisition of the Roelandt industrial bakery, we are now able to offer our customers a wider range of bread and pastries. We started construction of a sea farm where we intend to harvest the first Belgian mussels by summer 2023. Furthermore, we have established a unique chain for organic Belgian bread wheat, the basis for Bio-Planet's delicious bread.

We have also taken extra initiatives in the field of sustainability. We are particularly proud of our afforestation project in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Together with the local population and NGOs, we are planting 12 million trees there, meaning that by 2030 we as a group will absorb more CO2 than we emit. We are also pleased with the growing support for the Eco-score, an easy-to-understand label showing a product's environmental footprint. The label is already available online

for half of the foods offered at Bio-Planet and Colruyt Lowest Prices. In addition, our new water- saving crate-washing facility is now in operation, while all wastewater and rainwater from our headquarters buildings is being treated on-site, reducing our consumption of mains water by up to 90%.

Finally, we continued to invest strongly in the production and distribution of renewable energy. Through our participation in the energy holding company Virya Energy, we are pioneering the industrial production of green hydrogen and helping to build large-scale wind farms at home and abroad. At our headquarters, we opened Belgium's largest battery charging bay, where as many as one hundred cars can be recharged simultaneously.

Like last year, this annual report contains our sustainability reporting, in line with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals. More on this at colruytgroup.com and in the special sustainability brochure supplementing the annual report.

Relying on the skills and entrepreneurship we so cherish with our 33.000 employees, we have accomplished a great deal as a group in another exceptional year. I am convinced that, with dedication and perseverance, our efforts will bear fruit in the years to come.

In addition to the long term, the short term obviously deserves our full attention. Historically high inflation and high energy prices, along with strong competition in the Belgian retail market, are largely responsible for the drop in our operating margin. These three factors are set to continue to be a challenge in the current 2022/23 financial year. With its unique footprint and a meaningful, broad range of products offered via an adapted organisational structure, our group is well equipped to meet future challenges. We said goodbye to our COO Retail Marc Hofman who took up his well-deserved retirement. I am very grateful to Marc for his efforts over the past nine years. With the COOs Jo Willemyns and Stefan Goethaert at my side, I am confident about our group's successful future.

Above all, we continue to invest in our people, in their entrepreneurship and skills, as key components within the group's long-termstrategy. I would like to explicitly thank all staff for their efforts and contribution to offer social added value day after day.

The investments in both people and a sustainable infrastructure will allow us to continue to be there for millions of customers, day-in,day-out, in the years to come. I also extend a warm thank-you to all the customers who continue to choose us, and to the partners with whom we hope to continue our lasting collaborations.

Jef Colruyt

CEO Colruyt Group

INTRO | Word from the Chairman • Continuity • Who are we? • Our vision on sustainability • Management report • Key figures	5