Colruyt N : Statement of the Chairman at the General Meeting of Shareholders of Etn. Fr. Colruyt NV

PRESS RELEASE - Halle (Belgium) - 29 September 2021 - Regulated information - Insider information

Statement of the Chairman

at the General Meeting of Shareholders

of Etn. Fr. Colruyt NV of 29 September 2021

Dear shareholders,

Towards the end of the financial year 2019/20 and throughout the entire financial year 2020/21, the global pandemic had an unprecedented impact on our group, affecting areas from sales to production, logistics and administration. The COVID-19 impact could however not be clearly isolated this financial year.

In that exceptional financial year, we saw our group revenue increase by 3,7% to over EUR 9,9 billion. The food stores handled higher volumes and thus again fulfilled their essential role in the food chain. Revenue from the non-food stores and the foodservice and fuel distribution activities on the other hand declined as a result of the crisis. Excluding petrol, revenue increased by 6,4%. The revenue performance was also impacted by the full consolidation of fashion group The Fashion Society and transactional communication and document specialist Joos Hybrid, and by the discontinuation of the non-food sales through the Collishop website.

The food revenue in Belgium grew at a slower pace than the overall market, as on average Colruyt Group has proportionally fewer neighbourhood stores than other retailers. Neighbourhood store concepts experienced higher growth than the other store formats during the health crisis, causing the combined Belgian market share of Colruyt Lowest Prices, OKay and Spar to decline to 31,3%.

Our gross profit margin increased to 28,1% of revenue. This evolution mainly reflects lower promotional pressure at the start of the financial year (due to the ban on promotions and discounts in Belgian supermarkets), miscellaneous product mix effects, COVID-19- related provisions, operational improvements and the full consolidation of The Fashion Society and Joos Hybrid.

Our net operating expenses climbed from 18,4% to 19,6% of revenue. The increase is mainly attributable to COVID-19 and our ongoing investments in employees, house-brand products, distribution channels and change projects. The COVID-19-related costs essentially cover various measures taken to ensure the health and safety of our customers and employees. In addition, as a token of gratitude for the efforts made, we rewarded our employees with additional days of leave and benefits, representing an amount of approximately EUR 40 million from the end of February 2020 up to the end of June 2021. The increase in net operating expenses as a percentage of revenue also reflects the acquisitions of The Fashion Society and Joos Hybrid, which also contributed to the increase in our workforce by more than 2.100 full-time equivalents.

Following the contribution of Eoly's renewable wind energy activities into our energy holding Virya Energy, a one-off positive effect of EUR 31 million was realised.

The operating profit (EBIT) totalled EUR 523 million or 5,3% of revenue. Excluding the gain realised on the contribution of Eoly Energy, the EBIT margin was 5,0% of revenue (5,3% in 2019/20).

We ended the financial year with a net profit of EUR 416 million. Excluding the gain realised on the contribution of Eoly Energy, the net result equalled EUR 385 million or 3,9% of revenue (EUR 380 million excluding one-off effects or 4,0% of revenue in 2019/20).

We have proposed a gross dividend of EUR 1,47 per share to the General Meeting of Shareholders.

Statement of the Chairman at the General Meeting of Shareholders

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PRESS RELEASE - Halle (Belgium) - 29 September 2021 - Regulated information - Insider information

Retail accounted for 84% of our group revenue this year. Retail revenue grew by 5,2% to more than EUR 8,3 billion. The revenue growth (excluding the consolidation of The Fashion Society) amounted to 3,8%. The discontinuation of the non-food sales through the Collishop website negatively impacted revenue growth as from October 2020.

The food retail revenue grew, essentially as a result of expansion and higher offline and online volumes during the COVID-19 crisis. At the end of the financial year 2019/20, when the crisis set in, our food stores were already reporting significant revenue growth.

Revenue of our non-foodstores increased by over 37%, mainly due to the full consolidation of The Fashion Society. Because of the COVID-19 crisis, our non-food stores were required to close during several periods. The loss of revenue could however partly be offset by online sales. A large number of the furloughed employees lent a hand in our food stores, production and logistics.

During the exceptional financial year 2020/21, we continued to invest in the expansion and renovation of our store estate, with 18 new stores and 24 reopenings. At the end of the financial year, we had 720 own stores in Belgium, France and Luxembourg, together representing a retail space of more than 860.000 square meters. Fiets! was renamed Bike Republic and opened three new stores. As of financial year 2020/21, our store network also includes all 116 stores of the fashion group The Fashion Society. This involves the fashion retail chains ZEB, PointCarré, The Fashion Store and ZEB For Stars.

The growth in online sales of both food and non-food accelerated significantly in 2020/21, partly due to COVID-19. Our online revenue is primarily generated by Collect&Go, that has been the market leader in the Belgian online food market for more than 20 years. In the financial year 2020/21, the service managed to double its capacity. To enable further growth, we very recently opened a new e-commerce distribution centre in Londerzeel. Collect&Go also launched the online platform Deals!, which offers strong promotions on large volumes in near-food every week.

The wholesale and foodservice activities together accounted for 11% of our group revenue. This segment's revenue grew by 11,7% to EUR 1.075 million and was impacted by the COVID-19 health crisis. Wholesale revenue increased by more than 15%, mainly due to the success of the Spar Colruyt Group neighbourhood stores in Belgium. The foodservice specialist Solucious on the other hand recorded a revenue decline of more than 13%, in particular due to the cancellation of the deliveries to the hospitality sector.

Finally, the other activities accounted for 5% of the group revenue and are mainly driven by our DATS 24 filling stations in Belgium. The 24% decline in revenue to EUR 547 million is primarily due to lower fuel prices and lower fuel volumes during the COVID-19 crisis. DATS 24 nonetheless continues to invest in greener mobility, with the further expansion of its network of natural gas pumps, electric charging posts and hydrogen filling stations.

We strengthened our printing and document management specialist Symeta by acquiring the perfectly complementary Joos Hybrid. Both activities merged into Symeta Hybrid, which provides total solutions for document and communication management and supports organisations in their digital transition.

Colruyt Group is the majority shareholder in the energy holding Virya Energy, which is active in the development, financing, construction and operation of renewable energy sources, with a particular focus on offshore and onshore wind farms. Last financial year, our renewable wind energy activity Eoly was fully integrated into Virya Energy. The holding also strengthened its position by increasing its stake in both Parkwind (active in offshore wind energy) and Eurowatt (active in onshore wind energy) to 100%. The consolidation of all our energy activities in one single holding results in considerable economies of scale and greater strength. In the calendar year 2020, Virya Energy generated approximately 1.135 gigawatt hours of green electricity for Colruyt Group. This production covers 5 times the group's annual consumption in Belgium and Luxembourg.

Statement of the Chairman at the General Meeting of Shareholders

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PRESS RELEASE - Halle (Belgium) - 29 September 2021 - Regulated information - Insider information

Even during the difficult financial year 2020/21, we remained focused on the long-term perspective and invested a total of EUR 469 million, mainly in our store estate, but also in distribution channels, logistics and production facilities, in sustainability projects and in future-oriented transformation programmes.

Also with a view to the future, we took the difficult but necessary decision to stop non-food sales via the Collishop webshop completely. This is because sustainable growth in a highly competitive non-food market requires us to specialise further in our non-food activities. We retain our network of 400 physical Collishop collection points for online orders placed through other webshops (First-class wines, Newpharma, Dreamland, Dreambaby, etc.). All employees affected remained employed within the group.

Sustainable entrepreneurship is and remains the common thread running through all our activities. As far as agriculture is concerned, we continue to support our local producers and their craftsmanship. We invested in additional farming land and obtained a permit for a sea farm in the North Sea, so as to be able to grow our own mussels in the longer term. In all of this, we are committed, together with local partners and in all transparency, to bring about sustainable change.

Another priority is to provide our customers with maximum information, to make it easier for them to make more sustainable choices. I am therefore proud that we are the first Belgian retailer to roll out the Eco-Score, a new label that indicates the ecological footprint of products. Under the 'Step By Step' banner, we constantly inspire the public to consume and live more sustainably.

Obviously, we continue to invest in the production and distribution of renewable energy. DATS 24 now offers private customers green electricity directly. We continue to pioneer the production of green hydrogen and its use for heavy transport. We were the first retailer in Europe to test a 44-tonne hydrogen truck and will take the final investment decision for an industrial hydrogen production site this year.

As recently announced, we are also going to plant 12 million trees in Congo. In this way, from 2030 onwards, our group will absorb more CO2 than it produces and thus help to combat climate change.

We also want to send out a message to the political governing bodies in Belgium. We expect the policy-makers to work on improving government efficiency, with administrative simplification as a basic pillar, and on using digitalisation to the benefit of people; to fully engage in the implementation of the European Green Deal and invest in a more sustainable society with ambitious climate objectives that will benefit future generations; to opt for a fundamental tax reform which aims to promote tax simplicity without further increasing the tax burden and which eliminates tax incentives for cross- border shopping; to focus on setting up an agile work organisation for e-commerceactivities. This will enable us to continue to create Belgian added value in a rapidly changing international economy. And finally make real choices! Be transparent and act consistently in respect thereof.

As far as packaging is concerned, we want to continue to focus on the prevention of material usage and on packaging innovations in the years ahead. We will also step up our efforts to tackle litter, for example by developing smart reward systems. We advocate that Fostplus can continue to take the role of orchestrator and be mandated to organise the whole effectively and efficiently with due respect for all actors (cities and municipalities, citizens, inter-municipal companies, government, etc.) and without any fragmentation of responsibilities.

Statement of the Chairman at the General Meeting of Shareholders

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PRESS RELEASE - Halle (Belgium) - 29 September 2021 - Regulated information - Insider information

Since March 2020, Colruyt Group has experienced diverse impacts of the COVID-19 health crisis, such as sharply increased volumes in the food stores. Now that the measures are being eased, Colruyt Group still expects its consolidated revenue for the financial year 2021/22 to slightly increase.

Since the beginning of the financial year 2021/22, the market environment has been competitive in terms of both price and promotions. Competitiveness increased even further during the holiday period, and we expect competitiveness to remain high throughout the financial year.

The group's operating expenses and investments will be affected by rising inflation in the financial year 2021/22. The group will continue to keep the operating expenses under control, while pursuing its investments in its efficiency, employees, high-quality house- brand products, sustainability, innovation and digital transition.

When announcing the full-year results on 15 June 2021, the group had already indicated that it would be difficult to match the consolidated net result of the financial year 2020/21 (EUR 385 million excluding the gain on the contribution of Eoly Energy) in the financial year 2021/22.

Based on the above trends, Colruyt Group expects the consolidated operating profit, and hence the consolidated net result, of the financial year 2021/22 to be considerably lower than last financial year. This evolution will be more pronounced in the first semester as the first half of last year was primarily affected by the COVID-19 health crisis. We wish to point out that the outlook for the 2021/22 result may still be impacted by the evolution of the current health crisis and the uncertainty that it brings.

Colruyt Group expects the recent transactions (the acquisitions of Culinoa and JIMS and the increase of the stake in Newpharma) to have no material impact on the net result of financial year 2021/22.

Colruyt Group will maintain its long-term focus and will therefore continue to consistently implement its strategic choices. Colruyt Lowest Prices will continue to consistently implement its lowest price strategy. The group will also continue to closely monitor changes in customer behaviour and take appropriate action if needed.

To conclude, we as a group have shown incredible flexibility, creativity and solidarity in this tremendously challenging year. I am particularly proud that we managed to continue to fulfil our social role at all times and to maintain the food supply, with as our utmost priority the safety of employees and customers. I am also proud that we were able to offer temporary employment to more than two thousand workers from hard-hit sectors. We also distributed free sewing packages, with which people made facemasks for healthcare at home en masse. Then there was the home delivery of groceries to healthcare workers and the free hygiene packs for youth camps. Even in complex and uncertain circumstances, we as a group demonstrated the necessary strength and entrepreneurship to continually reinvent ourselves and identify opportunities. I want to express my sincerest thanks for this, once more, dear colleague, customer, supplier or partner. You can all continue to count on Colruyt Group.

Jef Colruyt

Chairman of the Board of Directors

Statement of the Chairman at the General Meeting of Shareholders

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PRESS RELEASE - Halle (Belgium) - 29 September 2021 - Regulated information - Insider information

About Colruyt Group

Colruyt Group operates in the food and non-food distribution sector in Belgium, France and Luxembourg with more than 600 own stores and about 580 affiliated stores. In Belgium, this includes Colruyt, OKay, Bio-Planet, Cru, Dreamland, Dreambaby, Bike Republic and the affiliated Spar stores. In France, in addition to Colruyt stores, there are also affiliated Coccinelle, Coccimarket and Panier Sympa stores. The group is majority shareholder of The Fashion Society, which includes the fashion retail chains ZEB, PointCarré, The Fashion Store and ZEB For Stars. JIMS operates fitness clubs in Belgium and Luxembourg. Solucious and Culinoa deliver food service and retail products to professional customers in Belgium (hospitals, SMEs, hospitality sector, etc.). The other activities comprise energy supply by DATS 24 in Belgium (fuels, natural gas and green energy), printing and document management solutions (Symeta Hybrid) and the production of green energy (Eoly). The group employs over 32.000 employees and recorded a EUR 9,9 billion revenue in 2020/21. Colruyt is listed on Euronext Brussels (COLR) under ISIN code BE0974256852.

Risks relating to forecasts

Risks relating to forecasts statements by Colruyt Group included in this press release, along with references to this press release in other written or verbal statements of the group which refer to future expectations with regard to activities, events and strategic developments of Colruyt Group, are predictions and as such contain risks and uncertainties. The information communicated relates to information available at the present time, which can differ from the final results. Factors that can generate a variation between expectation and reality are: changes in the micro- or macroeconomic context, changing market situations, changing competitive climate, unfavourable decisions with regard to the building and/or extension of new or existing stores, procurement problems with suppliers, as well as all other factors that can impact the group's result. Colruyt Group does not make any commitments with respect to future reporting that might have an influence on the group's result or which could bring about a deviation from the forecasts included in this press release or in other group communication, whether written or oral.

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