Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA: Hornbach Group with strong start to year

Hornbach Group with strong start to year

Consolidated sales grow by 7.1 % to Euro 1,195.5 million in first quarter of 2017/2018 / Earnings significantly boosted: EBIT up 21.2% to Euro 92.7 million / Forecast confirmed

Neustadt a. d. Weinstrasse, June 30, 2017.
The Hornbach Group (Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA Group) has begun the 2017/2018 financial year on a very successful note. Consolidated sales for the first quarter of 2017/2018 (March 1 to May 31, 2017) increased 7.1% to Euro 1,195.5 million (2016/2017: Euro 1,116.1 million). In conjunction with a higher gross margin and enhanced cost ratios, this dynamic sales performance led to significantly disproportionate earnings growth. Consolidated operating earnings (EBIT) grew 21.2 % to Euro 92.7 million (2016/2017: Euro 76.5 million). Three-month earnings per Holding share rose 24.2 % to Euro 3.18 (2016/2017: Euro 2.56). The full-year sales and earnings forecasts for 2017/2018 have been confirmed.
 

Sales at Hornbach Baumarkt AG, the largest operating subgroup (DIY retail), grew 6.7 % to Euro 1,130.3 million (2016/2017: Euro 1,058.9 million). This figure also includes sales at a DIY megastore with a garden center newly opened in The Hague (Netherlands) in April 2017. The total number of DIY retail outlets therefore came to 156 as of May 31, 2017 (February 28, 2017: 155), of which an unchanged total of 98 stores in Germany and 58 in other European countries.
 

Like-for-like sales net of currency items increased by 5.4 % in the first three months. "Hornbach can report a very strong start to the year. The spring season also benefited from weather conditions that were mostly ideal for larger-scale house and garden projects. The strongest sales growth in the first quarter was once again generated outside Germany", commented Roland Pelka, the company's Chief Financial Officer.
 

Net sales at the 98 Hornbach stores in Germany rose 3.6 % to Euro 613.4 million in the first quarter (2016/2017: Euro 591.9 million). Like-for-like sales grew by 3.8 %. Based on its own data, Hornbach further expanded its market share in Germany (2016: 11.1 %). Sales in the Other European countries region, which includes the company's DIY retail activities in eight countries outside Germany, rose 10.7 % to Euro 516.9 million (2016/2017: Euro 467.0 million). The international share of sales at the Hornbach Baumarkt AG subgroup increased from 44.1 % to 45.7 %. Like-for-like sales net of currency items grew by 7.5 % in other European countries.
 

The builders' merchant business showed even stronger growth rates than DIY retail. Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH, the subgroup currently operating 25 builders' merchant outlets in south-western Germany and two locations close to the border in France (Lorraine), increased its sales year-on-year by 13.8 % to Euro 64.6 million.
 

Earnings strength significantly boosted in Q1 2017/2018

The Hornbach Group substantially increased its earnings strength in the first three months of the 2017/2018 financial year compared with the previous year's period. This improvement was mainly driven by like-for-like sales growth, the disproportionate increase in gross profit, and enhanced cost ratios in the operating retail business.
 

Operating earnings (EBIT) at the Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA Group grew 21.2 % to Euro 92.7 million (2016/2017: Euro 76.5 million). Earnings per Holding share rose 24.2 % to Euro 3.18 in the first quarter of 2017/2018 (2016/2017: Euro 2.56). EBIT at the Hornbach Baumarkt AG subgroup increased 26.1 % to Euro 77.6 million (2016/2017: Euro 61.5 million), while earnings per Baumarkt share rose 30.3 % to Euro 1.72 (2016/2017: Euro 1.32). According to the Board of Management, the measures to promote digitization of the business model will be stepped up further as the financial year progresses. The full-year sales and earnings forecasts for 2017/2018 have been confirmed.

Note: The quarterly statements of Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA and Hornbach Baumarkt AG can be downloaded from the "Publications" section of our website. Link: www.hornbach-group.com.

Key Figures of the Hornbach Group for the 1^st Quarter at a Glance

Rounding up or down may lead to discrepancies between percentages and totals. Calculation of percentage figures based on Euro 000s.