EQS-News: HORNBACH Group delivers successfully on FY 2023/24 targets – full year figures reflect solid performance

• FY 2023/24 figures reflect improved development in H2 and Q4 amid macro headwinds
• Consolidated Group sales 1.6% below FY 2022/23 in line with guidance – customers prioritize small tickets over big ticket and discretionary categories
• Like-for-like sales decreased by 2.0% in FY 2023/24, but stabilizing to -1.3% in Q4 2023/24
• Gross margin positively impacted by normalization of some core commodity prices and more favorable product mix
• HORNBACH continued to increase market share in key international markets
• Adjusted Group operating earnings (adj. EBIT) expected at around EUR 254 million (-12%) – in line with FY guidance

Table 1: Key figures HORNBACH Holding AG & Co. KGaA Group

_{Rounding up or down may lead to discrepancies between percentages and totals. Percentage figures calculated on basis of Euro 000s.}

Bornheim (Palatinate), Germany, March 26, 2024.

HORNBACH Group (HORNBACH Holding AG & Co. KGaA; ISIN: DE0006083405) delivered robust preliminary figures for the financial year 2023/24 (March 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024) in line with FY guidance. Against the challenging backdrop of ongoing consumer caution in big ticket and discretionary spending, consolidated net sales of the Group were only slightly below the previous year at EUR 6,161 million (-1.6%). In Q4 2023/24 (December 1, 2023 to February 29, 2024) Group sales declined slightly by 1.5% to EUR 1,234 million. The gross margin further recovered driven by lower commodity prices in some core product categories as well as a more favorable product mix compared to the previous year. HORNBACH Group’s adjusted EBIT (operating earnings adjusted to exclude non-operating earnings items) for FY 2023/24 is expected at approx. EUR 254 million (2022/23: EUR 290 million).

“While the macroeconomic outlook remains challenging, especially in Germany, we have also seen some positive signs with inflation coming down and favorable weather conditions in the first weeks of our spring season. Overall, the DIY sector has grown to a significantly higher sales level in recent years and is enjoying great popularity. Even though there have been certain fluctuations in the meantime, there are many opportunities ahead of us that make us very optimistic for the future. Fundamental trends like energy efficiency, barrier-free renovations and the need to transform existing buildings remain vital and offer a variety of opportunities for us to grow”, said Albrecht Hornbach, CEO of HORNBACH Management AG.

Erich Harsch, CEO of the HORNBACH Baumarkt AG, added: “2023/24 was a year of further post-Covid normalization with a challenging consumer environment and DIY customers focusing on relatively smaller renovation and gardening projects. Going forward, we think that our successful everyday low-price strategy will continue to position us favorably to attract customers. We are also very confident about our recent initiatives to evolve our product offering and cater to market trends.”

Table 2: Like-for-like sales performance⁴⁾ HORNBACH Baumarkt AG subgroup (in %) 

HORNBACH Baumarkt grows sales outside Germany

Net sales at the largest operating subgroup HORNBACH Baumarkt came in close to the previous year’s level (-1.1%) at EUR 5,780 million (2022/23: EUR 5,843 million). On a like-for-like basis and exchange rate adjusted, sales in the subgroup decreased by 2.0% (see table 2). HORNBACH Baumarkt’s sales efficiency at EUR 2,823 per square meter remains well ahead of competition. In Germany, net sales of HORNBACH Baumarkt decreased by 2.6% to EUR 2,787 million (2022/23: EUR 2,861 million) while net sales outside of Germany grew by 0.4% to EUR 2,993 million (2022/23: EUR 2,982 million). In total, the international share of sales of HORNBACH Baumarkt subgroup further rose from 51.0% to 51.8%.

Online sales (including Click & Collect) accounted for 12.7% of HORNBACH Baumarkt subgroup’s total sales in FY 2023/24 (2022/23: 14.1%) and remained well above pre-Covid levels (2019/20: 9.6%). Compared with the previous year’s period online sales declined y-o-y by 11.1% to EUR 732 million in FY 2023/24.

HORNBACH Baumarkt grew its market shares successfully to 36.2% in Czechia (2022: 34.4%), to 27.1% in the Netherlands (2022: 26.1%) and to 13.9% in Switzerland (2022: 13.5%) in the 2023 calendar year. In Germany, HORNBACH maintained its market share (GfK⁵⁾) on a high level at 14.9%.

HORNBACH Baumarkt continues to innovate its online offering and in October 2023 added a marketplace to its German webshop,bringing new products from independent brands and sellers to customers. In addition, HORNBACH Baumarkt continuously expanded the portfolio of energy-efficient refurbishment products and services. In November 2023, HORNBACH Baumarkt acquired Seniovo, a German start-up, which specializes in serial barrier-free bathroom renovations, enhancing the trade offer in do-it-for-me services.

As of February 29, 2024, HORNBACH Baumarkt AG operated a total of 171 stores as well as online shops in nine European countries. In Germany, the stationary network includes 96 (previous year: 97) DIY megastores with garden centers, as well as two Bodenhaus specialist flooring stores (previous year: two). Our DIY store in Nuremberg closed in November 2023 to be rebuild at the same location and opening again at the beginning of 2025. In the eight other European countries the subgroup operates 73 DIY megastores with garden centers (previous year: 72), including a newly opened store in Nijmegen (Netherlands, July 2023).

Builders’ merchant business affected by construction sector downturn

The HORNBACH Baustoff Union GmbH subgroup, which contributes 6% to the Group’s total sales, saw a decline in net sales by 9.6% to EUR 381 million in the 2023/24 financial year (previous year: EUR 421 million) driven by the weak development in the overall German construction industry. As of February 29, 2024, the subgroup operates 39 builders’ merchant outlets including 37 locations in south-western Germany and two locations close to the border in France (Grand Est).

Adjusted EBIT of HORNBACH Group at around EUR 254 million in line with guidance

With EUR 254 million the adjusted EBIT of HORNBACH Group in FY 2023/24 came in 12.4% below the previous year’s level (2022/23: EUR 290 million). This is in line with the earnings guidance revised on September 15, 2023, which expected adjusted EBIT to decline by 10% to 25% below the level of the 2022/23. Adjusted EBIT development was positively impacted by sequentially improving gross margin which resulted mainly from the normalization of some core commodity prices and a more favorable product mix compared to the previous year.

Sales and earnings figures in this release are preliminary and unaudited. Details of the earnings performance and annual financial statements for 2023/24, as well as the sales and earnings guidance for the 2024/25 financial year, will be published on May 22, 2024. A financial press conference and an analysts' conference are also planned for that day.

_{5) GfK definition: DIY stores bigger than 1,000 sqm; Data available for Germany, Netherlands, Austria, Switzerland and Czech Republic.}

About HORNBACH Group

HORNBACH Group is an independent, family-run retail group under the umbrella of HORNBACH Holding AG & Co. KGaA, which is listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and represented in the SDAX. The largest subsidiary, HORNBACH Baumarkt AG, operates 171 DIY megastores with garden centers (incl. specialist stores) and online shops in nine European countries. The Group also includes HORNBACH Baustoff Union, a regional builders' merchant company with 39 locations in southwestern Germany and France, as well as HORNBACH Immobilien AG, which develops retail real estate for the Group. In the financial year 2023/24 (reporting date: February 29, 2024), the HORNBACH Group generated net sales of EUR 6.2 billion, making it one of the five largest DIY and garden retail companies in Europe. The Group has a workforce of around 25,000 employees.

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