Hornbach Holding AG : Hornbach maintains sales and earnings growth

Results for first nine-months of 2011/2012 published:

Hornbach maintains sales and earnings growth

Consolidated sales for nine-month period up 6.6 percent to Euro 2.6 billion / Germany as key growth driver: Domestic DIY megastores with garden centers post 6.0 percent growth in like-for-like sales / Earnings rise disproportionately compared with sales

Neustadt an der Weinstrasse, December 22, 2011. The Hornbach Holding AG Group upheld its track record of success in the third quarter of 2011/2012. As well as substantially boosting its sales, Germany's fourth-largest DIY group also achieved disproportionate earnings growth in the first nine months of the 2011/2012 financial year (March 1 to November 30, 2011). While the Hornbach Group increased its nine-month sales by 6.6 percent to Euro 2,581.9 million, operating earnings (EBIT) for the same period grew by 12.8 percent to Euro 191.2 million. The DIY megastores with garden centers in Germany were once again the key growth driver. With cumulative like-for-like sales growth of 6.0 percent, these continued to outperform their sector by a clear margin.

HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG, which operates 134 DIY megastores with garden centers in nine European countries, set the pace for the Group's business performance. Nine-month sales at this, the largest operating subgroup, grew by 6.3 percent to Euro 2,409.8 million, accompanied by a 13.9 percent improvement in EBIT to Euro 154.3 million. The Group's positive business performance was rounded off by Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH, the subgroup operating in the regional builders' merchant business, which posted nine-month sales growth of 11.0 percent and boosted its operating earnings by 13.2 percent to Euro 6.9 million.

On a like-for-like basis, i.e. excluding newly opened stores and store closures, Hornbach even managed to outstrip the previous year's sales growth. Driven above all by record growth in the first quarter, the rate of growth in like-for-like currency-adjusted sales at the DIY megastores with garden centers reached plus 2.9 percent at the Group as a whole in the nine-month period. The greatest momentum was shown by the stores in Germany, which posted cumulative like-for-like growth of 6.0 percent.

'So far, the negative news surrounding the European sovereign debt crisis has clearly not infringed on consumer confidence among German house builders, DIY enthusiasts and gardening fans. Quite the reverse - residential construction and the renovation market are booming. Our strengths in terms of our product range and the advice we provide mean we have notched up particularly high marks with project customers', commented Albrecht Hornbach, Chairman of the Board of Management of Hornbach Holding AG.

Sales at Hornbach's DIY megastores with garden centers outside Germany rose by 7.6 percent overall in the first nine months. The international share of consolidated sales at Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG increased from 42.0 percent to 42.5 percent. Like-for-like sales in other European countries - excluding (positive) currency items - almost matched the previous year's figure (minus 1.1 percent).

In the course of its expansion, the Hornbach Group stepped up its investments year-on-year from Euro 78 million to Euro 121 million in the first three quarters. Thanks to the positive business performance, the equity ratio improved even further, reaching 47.5 percent at the Baumarkt subgroup and 44.8 percent at the Hornbach Group as of November 30, 2011. The Group had more than 14,300 employees across Europe at this date.

Albrecht Hornbach confirmed the sales and earnings forecast for the 2011/2012 financial year as a whole: 'We still expect the Hornbach Holding AG Group to generate sales growth in a medium single-digit percentage range and operating earnings (EBIT) in excess of the previous year's figure of Euro 159.1 million.'

Key Figures of HORNBACH HOLDING AG Group for 3^rd Quarter/First Nine Months at a Glance
(in Euro million, unless otherwise stated)

¹⁾ currency-adjusted
Rounding up or down may lead to discrepancies between percentages and totals. Calculation of percentage figures based on Euro 000s.