Juan Roig has found in recent years a new and lucrative source of income for Mercadona that goes beyond the sale of products in its stores: the management of your treasury He reported 180 million euros in 2024, 13% of its total benefits.
The context. The increase in interest rates has turned the Mercadona Treasury into a machine to generate benefits, going from contributing only 5 million in 2022 (0.7% of the benefit) to 180 million in 2024 (13% of the benefit).
This phenomenon is directly related to the supermarket business model, where customers pay at the time of purchase, generating surpluses of liquidity that can be deposited in banking entities.
- Simpler: Mercadona charges its customers instantly but pays its suppliers to installs, allowing you to accumulate billions in the bank generating interest.
In figures. Mercadona closed 2024 with benefits of 1,384 million euros37% more than in 2023, with 5,692 million in cash and liquid assets equivalent to the end of the year.
- The financial result has multiplied by 36 in three years: 5 million in 2022 to 180 million in 2024.
- The total turnover reached 38,800 million, 9% more than in 2023.
What has happened. He End of the negative types cycle in 2022 It was a turning point in the financial management of the Valencian company. Although the Euribor ranged between 3.7% and 2.4% for 2024, Mercadona was improving its financial margin through more efficient management.
Roig’s company has increased its financial benefits even when interest rates have shown a downward trend. That demonstrates active management.
Between bambalins. This improvement in financial income coincides with the culmination of the process of transformation of its supermarkets. Mercadona invested 419 million in 2024 to adapt stores to Efficient model “Store 8” (Diaphanous spaces, prepared dishes section, term and acoustic insulation …), 231 million less than in 2023.
The combination of savings in investments (231 million) and the improvement of the financial margin (additional 92 million compared to 2023) explains much of the increase in the benefit.
Deepen. The Phenomenon of Mercadona is an example of a trend among large retail companies with a lot of cash generation: diversification towards financial activities taking advantage of their liquidity surpluses. This “hidden bank” within the supermarket company has become an extra competitive advantage against chains with lower financial muscle.
By 2025, Mercadona provides for a more moderate growth in sales (3.5%, up to 40,100 million) and a consolidation of the benefit. If we read the latter between the lines we can intuit that they anticipate a lower interest rates scenario in the future.
Outstanding image | Mercadona