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Pleasing first-quarter earnings performance
Hornbach Group posts satisfactory start to 2010/2011 financial year
At € 59.6 million, EBIT matches high previous yearʼs figure - consolidated sales up 0.8%
Neustadt a. d. Weinstrasse, July 1, 2010. The Hornbach Group can afford to be satisfied with its start to the new 2010/2011 financial year. Its earnings performance in the first quarter of 2010/2011 (March 1 to May 31, 2010) latched seamlessly onto the successful performance in the previous yearʼs period. At € 59.6 million, operating earnings (EBIT) at the overall Hornbach Holding AG Group matched the previous yearʼs figure. The Groupʼs net income for the period rose 2.0% to € 37.8 million, resulting in earnings per preference share of € 3.76 (previous year: € 3.72). An improvement in the gross margin enabled the Group to make up for subdued garden sales at its DIY stores with garden centers, which felt the effects of the poor weather in spring 2010. Consolidated sales showed slight growth of 0.8% to € 826.6 million in the first three months (previous year: € 819.8m).
The 131 DIY megastores with garden centers operated across Europe by Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG, the Groupʼs largest operating subgroup, increased their sales by 0.7% overall to € 779.9 million (previous year: € 774.8m). The sales performance in the first three months was affected by periods of very cold, wet weather. This led to a decline in sales in the garden product division. The other product divisions, by contrast, reported more or less stable or positive developments. On a like-for-like basis, i.e. excluding sales at stores newly opened in the past twelve months, and net of currency items, sales slipped 2.0%. Including currency items for the non-euro countries of Romania, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Czech Republic, like-for-like sales decreased by only 0.8% across the Group. Driven in particular by the positive development in the gross margin, the subgroupʼs operating earnings reached € 49.6 million, thus also matching the previous yearʼs figure.
The Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH subgroup provided further positive momentum. Sales at the unchanged total of 21 buildersʼ merchants outlets improved by 3.6% to € 46.7 million in the first quarter of 2010/2011 (previous year: € 45.0m). Earnings showed clearly disproportionate growth.
The Hornbach Group can still point to very robust balance sheet figures. As of May 31, 2010, its equity ratio amounted to 41.2% (February 28, 2010: 42.4%). Cash and cash equivalents are reported at € 463.2 million (€ 335.1m). The Group expects to open three new DIY megastores with garden centers outside Germany by the end of the 2010/2011 financial year (February 28, 2011). Due to increased outlays to boost its market position, Hornbach expects its EBIT for the year as whole to fall slightly short of the level reported for the 2009/2010 financial year (overall Group: € 151.5m).
Download: Hornbach Group posts satisfactory start to 2010/2011 financial year (pdf 79 kb).
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