HORNBACH Baumarkt AG: Hornbach expects significant earnings growth in second quarter of 2020/21 as well and adjusts full-year outlook

Hornbach expects significant earnings growth in second quarter
of 2020/21 as well and adjusts full-year outlook

Bornheim bei Landau, August 10, 2020.
Thanks to continuing high customer demand, the strong growth trend seen at the Hornbach Baumarkt AG Group has to date continued during the second quarter (June 1 to August 31, 2020) of the 2020/21 financial year. Based on preliminary unaudited figures, sales and adjusted EBIT showed substantial cumulative growth in the first five months of the year under report. To account for this, the Board of Management is adjusting the full-year outlook for sales and earnings in 2020/21.

Based on initial preliminary figures, consolidated sales are expected to rise by around one fifth both in the second quarter and in the first half of 2020/21.

Adjusted consolidated EBIT (operating earnings excluding non-operating earnings items) is expected to grow in a medium double-digit percentage range in the second quarter of 2020/21 compared with the previous year’s period (2019/20: Euro 87 million). Adjusted EBIT for the first half of 2020/21 is expected to increase in a medium to upper double-digit percentage range (2019/20: Euro 171 million). This substantial improvement in earnings in the 2020/21 financial year to date has essentially been driven by strong like-for-like, constant-currency sales growth in conjunction with improved cost ratios.

The company is adjusting the outlook of the Hornbach Baumarkt AG Group for the 2020/21 financial year as published in the 2019/20 Annual Report. The Board of Management points out in this respect that the opportunities and risks associated with the coronavirus crisis are still substantial and difficult to assess. That is reflected in the relatively broad ranges in the updated sales and earnings forecasts for the 2020/21 financial year as a whole. Accordingly, consolidated sales (2019/20: Euro 4.4 billion) are expected to show growth in a corridor of plus 5% to plus 15%. Depending on the nature and extent of potential macroeconomic effects, the Board of Management currently expects adjusted EBIT in a range of between Euro 180 million and Euro 280 million (2019/20: Euro 182 million).