A key appointment also for its future. On its agenda, as it appeared in the call published in the Official Gazette of the Mercantile Registry (Borme) this Friday, it will present to its shareholders the details of the new strategic plan that will define El Corte Inglés of the future. This will be valid for five years, from 2021 to 2026, and is the first developed 100% under the command of the CEO, Víctor del Pozo.

This still has to be approved by the board of directors before the meeting, and its lines of action will be very similar to those already carried out by El Corte Inglés in recent months, especially in the wake of the pandemic, which has driven the transformation of traditional distribution.

Deteriorations made; objective, to recover sales

This plan will start from a balance adapted to the new reality of the group. The deteriorations of 2,500 million that El Corte Inglés undertook in charge of the 2020 accounts, of which 2,100 correspond to its shopping centers, will allow it to leave without the burden of new deteriorations caused by the pandemic, at least not in such a high amount.

The primary objective five years from now will be none other than to recover pre-Covid revenues and returns, and to reduce a debt that the pandemic has once again raised above 3,800 million.

In all these objectives, the management of its spaces will play a key role to adapt them to the needs of the online business. The company already anticipated in its presentation of 2020 results that it is "designing a plan to create value, changing the use of sales spaces that may be redundant in outlets, stores, dark stores or renting them to third parties, among others". As examples, the conversion of the department store of Éibar into a dark store or that of Guadalajara into an outlet.

Divestments to reduce debt

Those that do not fit even with these uses will be used to make box. Divestments will continue to be part of El Corte Inglés's policy to reduce that debt, and its real estate portfolio of 16,000 million will be a main weapon. The company has already initiated a plan to sell 500,000 square meters of logistics area by BNP, as published by this newspaper, with a portfolio valued at 80 million. A first step for the "opportunistic sales of non-strategic assets" that, as its corporate financial director, Javier Rodríguez Arias, said, will continue to happen.

Online potential

With less physical space, El Corte Inglés will continue to focus on the digital business. This represented 17.2% of revenues in 2020, exceeding 1,800 million. In this sense, the launch of the new mobile application and El Corte Inglés Plus are the bases for a business path that will be crucial and in which the group continues to see room to grow.

New business

And finally, the new businesses: the domestic alarms with Sicor; the entry into telecommunications with Sweno, and the commercialization of energy through this brand are areas in which the group sees potential to generate new revenues and reduce dependence on its traditional businesses.