Catom Annual Report 2022 EN

Strategy

Catom’s strategy is geared towards both autonomous growth and growth through acquisitions; the buy and build strategy. The company is anticipating substantial shifts in the Dutch oil market’s downstream segment. Major oil companies such as Shell, Exxon, Total and BP, the ‘majors’, are increasingly concentrating on upstream activities (oil exploration and production) and are seeking opportunities to dispose of downstream activities (marketing, distri bution and sales). At the same time, smaller players in the market are struggling to envision the future and are increasingly opting to sell off their trading activities and petrol stations. Catom wants to play an active role in this consolidation drive. The company is in a position to take over these activities and win customers who are in the process of choosing a new supplier due to these shifts. Catom is especially interested in trade, sales and distribution activities as well as petrol stations. The reorganisation of the downstream segment is expected to occur in the Netherlands over the next few years. Consequently, Catom discerns ample opportunities in the next few years for growth and further takeovers in the Dutch market.

For each of the three core activities, a targeted strategy will be followed which fits in with specific market conditions and opportunities within that segment.

Wholesale

Growth in wholesale activities will largely be autonomous. Catom will distinguish itself by means of more competitive pricing and a higher standard of service, enabling new customers to be attracted. Growth in recent years has resulted in the wholesale activities reaching such a scale that acqui sitions will also be able to bolster growth. One crucial aspect in the case of acquisitions is to safeguard the high levels of service and quality that set the company apart so as to ensure the long-term loyalty of customers from the party acquired. In 2022, the initiatives to increase Catom’s own stocks and take the lead in fuel logistics were continued successfully. Expectations are that this will further continue in 2023. Storage capacity and maintaining our own stock in traditional and renewable fuels will result in strategic independence and greater flexibility, thereby ensuring better service provision to the customer.

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