Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA: Hornbach Group increases net sales by 15.4 % to Euro 5.5 billion in 2020/21 financial year

Hornbach Group increases net sales by 15.4 % to Euro 5.5 billion in 2020/21 financial year

Trading Statement 2020/21: Withdrawal to own four walls boosts sales at Hornbach Group in 2020/21 financial year / Sales up 15.6 % at DIY and garden stores (including online retail) / Builders' merchant business grows 12.8 % / Adjusted consolidated operating earnings expected to rise more than 40 % to around Euro 325 million

Bornheim, March 23, 2021.
The coronavirus pandemic presented the Hornbach Group with a memorable 2020/21 financial year (March 1, 2020 to February 28, 2021): People withdrawing to their own four walls, employees increasingly working from home, and consumers sustainably changing their behavior - all these factors provided a veritable boost to demand for DIY and home improvement product ranges. Against this backdrop, based on initial preliminary figures net sales at the Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA Group increased by 15.4 % to Euro 5,456 million. Hornbach Baumarkt AG, the largest operating subgroup, operated 161 DIY stores with garden centers and online shops, as well as two specialist retail outlets, in nine countries across Europe at the balance sheet date on February 28, 2021 (2019/20: 160). Sales here also passed the 5-billion mark, rising by 15.6 % to Euro 5,117 million. On a like-for-like basis and net of currency items, group-wide sales at the DIY stores with garden centers (DIY) grew by 14.7 %. The Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH subgroup posted sales growth of 12.8 % to Euro 338 million. These figures show that the Hornbach Group successfully mastered the extreme conditions resulting from the coronavirus pandemic in the past financial year.

Apart from Sweden and Romania, all of Hornbach's regions were affected by temporary closures of stationary stores to private customers in the 2020/21 financial year (see table). In most cases, sales to commercial customers and click & collect sales were still permitted, while online retail continued across the board. Demand for DIY articles was consistently far higher in the 2020/21 financial year than in the previous year. This made it possible to rapidly make up for those sales lost due to temporary closures. Not only that, sales in the online retail business and with commercial customers rose sharply. "Hornbach grew faster than its competitors in all its regions. We benefited from the seamless dovetailing of our stationary and online businesses. That enabled us to optimally meet the high level of demand despite the restrictions on sales", explained Albrecht Hornbach, CEO of Hornbach Management AG.

DIY stores with garden centers in Germany post like-for-like growth of 18.6 %

Net sales including online retail at Hornbach Baumarkt AG in the Germany region rose by 18.2 %, and thus faster than the group average, to Euro 2,654 million in the 2020/21 financial year (2019/20: Euro 2,245 million). On a like-for-like basis, i.e. excluding stores newly opened or closed in the past twelve months, sales growth stood at 18.6 % (2019/20: 6.5 %). Most recently, Hornbach significantly extended its head start over the German DIY sector. Based on the 2020 calendar year, Hornbach outperformed the sector average by more than eight percentage points. In Germany, Hornbach operated 96 stationary DIY retail stores at the balance sheet date (2019/20: 96), as well as two Bodenhaus outlets, a flooring specialist format launched in Cologne and Berlin in the fourth quarter of 2020/21. Even though Hornbach did not open any new DIY stores with garden centers in Germany, its share of the DIY market rose to 12.0 % (2019/20: 11.3 %), with this being due not least to growth in its online business.

Overview of group-wide restrictions on sales (DIY) in 2020/21 financial year

"The coronavirus crisis has sustainably changed customer behavior. Making sure their homes are in good shape and safe has become more important to people, not least as many employees will be working from home more often in future as well. Demand for renovation and repair work has risen noticeably. Not only that, during the pandemic even more customers drew on the benefits of online orders and click & collect", added Erich Harsch, CEO of Hornbach Baumarkt AG. It was absolutely the right political decision to allow DIY stores to reopen. "By implementing well-proven protection and hygiene concepts, we showed we could reliably ensure compliance with the required social distancing at our huge stores. The reopening of the first stores in Germany at the beginning of March met with an enthusiastic response from customers. That clearly shows the important role DIY stores and garden centers have to play in meeting many people's basic needs, particularly now that spring has begun. That holds true for all countries", stressed Erich Harsch.

International activities with like-for-like growth of 10.8 %

Including the DIY store with a garden center newly opened in Oradea (Romania) in September 2020 and the online business, the Hornbach Baumarkt AG subgroup increased its sales in the eight countries in which it operates outside Germany (Other European Countries region) by 12.8 % to Euro 2,463 million (2019/20: Euro 2,183 million). The international share of consolidated sales fell slightly from 49.3 % to 48.1 % as, all in all, the international stores were more severely affected by lockdown measures than their German counterparts during the 2020/21 financial year. On a like-for-like basis and net of currency items, Hornbach increased its sales in Other European Countries by 10.8% (previous year: 8.9 %). Including currency items, like-for-like sales also rose by 10.8 % (2019/20: 9.2 %).

Like-for-like sales performance at Hornbach's DIY stores with garden centers* (in %)

* Excluding currency items

Demand from the construction industry and private construction clients also enabled the builders' merchant business to report notably higher sales momentum than one year earlier. The Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH subgroup increased its sales by 12.8 % to Euro 338 million in the 2020/21 financial year. Due to takeovers of competitors, the number of outlets rose year-on-year from 34 to 36.

Adjusted EBIT of the HORNBACH Group rises to around Euro 325 million

Thanks to strong like-for-like sales growth and despite additional costs due to the pandemic, the Hornbach Group significantly increased its earnings strength in the past 2020/21 financial year. Based on initial, preliminary, and as yet unaudited figures, consolidated operating earnings adjusted to exclude non-operating earnings items (adjusted EBIT) are expected to amount to around Euro 325 million (2019/20: Euro 227.0 million). That corresponds to growth of more than 40 %. Also based on preliminary data, adjusted EBIT at the Hornbach Baumarkt AG subgroup rose more than 50 % to around Euro 280 million (previous year: Euro 181.8 million).

Details of the earnings performance, the 2020/21 annual financial statements, and the outlook for the 2021/22 financial year will be published at the Annual Results Press Conference on May 27, 2021.

1) Of which: 161 Hornbach DIY stores with garden centers and two Bodenhaus outlets

2) Number of employees, including passive employment relationships, at balance sheet date on February 28/29

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