DGAP-News: Hornbach Holding AG / Key word(s): Quarter Results/Interim
Report
Hornbach Holding AG: Hornbach posts jump in first-quarter sales and
earnings
26.06.2014 / 07:00
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Hornbach posts jump in first-quarter sales and earnings
Dynamic start to 2014/2015 financial year: Consolidated sales up 16.0
percent to Euro 1,035 million / Disproportionate earnings growth / EBIT up
70.8 percent to Euro 87.3 million / Forecast confirmed
Neustadt a. d. Weinstrasse, June 26, 2014.
The Hornbach Group (Hornbach Holding AG Group) has begun the 2014/2015
financial year on a highly dynamic note, posting record levels of
first-quarter sales and earnings. Sales at the Hornbach Holding AG Group
for the first three months (March 1 to May 31, 2014) rose 16.0 percent to
Euro 1,035.1 million. After two new store openings in Lübeck and Prague,
Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG, the largest operating subgroup, is now operating 143
DIY megastores and garden centers in nine European countries. Sales here
grew by 16.4 percent to Euro 976.7 million. Group-wide like-for-like sales
rose by 14.6 percent. First-quarter earnings showed even stronger growth.
The Hornbach Group's consolidated operating earnings (EBIT) jumped 70.8
percent to Euro 87.3 million. The Board of Management has confirmed the
sales and earnings forecast for the 2014/2015 financial year as a whole.
The domestic business once again accounted for the strongest growth
momentum. Like-for-like sales in all eight countries outside Germany were
nevertheless also ahead of the previous year's figures in the first quarter
of 2014/2015. "Demand from DIY and home improvement customers at our stores
virtually exploded in March 2014", commented CFO Roland Pelka when
presenting the quarterly results. "We not only made up for the downturn in
earnings in the previous year's quarter due to the severe winter but also
stepped up a few extra gears."
Given mild spring weather and a favorable macroeconomic backdrop, the
Hornbach DIY megastores with garden centers in Germany improved their
first-quarter sales by one fifth to Euro 574.5 million (2013/2014: Euro
478.9 million). Like-for-like sales in the domestic business increased by
19.4 percent, thus further significantly exceeding the strong sales
momentum already seen in the fourth quarter of 2013/2014 (plus 14.1
percent). Germany's third-largest DIY player also benefited from the
consolidation in the DIY market in the wake of the closure of insolvent
Praktiker and Max Bahr DIY stores.
In the international business, the positive trend apparent since the second
quarter 2013/2014 intensified further in the first three months of the
2014/2015 financial year. Including recent new store openings, DIY sales in
the eight countries outside Germany grew by 11.7 percent to Euro 402.1
million (2013/2014: Euro 360.0 million). Like-for-like sales net of
currency items grew by 8.2 percent. On a regional level, Hornbach generated
substantial sales growth in all countries. The international share of sales
at the Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG subgroup most recently amounted to 41.2
percent.
The Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH (HBU) subgroup, which focuses on the needs
of professional customers in the main construction and subconstruction
trades, as well as on private clients, increased its sales by 10.1 percent
to Euro 58.0 million in the first quarter of 2014/2015 (2013/2014: Euro
52.7 million). As of May 31, 2014, HBU operated an unchanged total of 25
builders' merchants outlets in south-western Germany and two locations
close to the border in France (Lorraine).
Disproportionate earnings growth
As expected, high like-for-like sales growth in Germany and abroad together
with an improvement in the gross margin and more favorable cost ratios
resulted in significantly disproportionate earnings growth in the first
quarter of 2014/2015. Operating earnings (EBIT) at the Hornbach Holding AG
Group rose 70.8 percent to Euro 87.3 million (2013/2014: Euro 51.1
million). EBIT at the Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG subgroup virtually doubled to
Euro 73.0 million (2013/2014: Euro 37.6 million).
Group CFO Roland Pelka has left the sales and earnings forecast for
2014/2015 unchanged. "The jump in sales and earnings in the first three
months will be followed by three quarters in which we have to match the
exceptionally high standards set in the previous year." On the one hand,
competitive pressure in Germany was due to increase once again in the
coming months following the takeover of former Praktiker Group locations by
other DIY players. On the other hand, the coming winter was unlikely to be
as mild as last year. For the 2014/2015 financial year, the Group still
expects to see sales growth in a medium single-digit percentage range and
disproportionate operating earnings growth (EBIT) both at the Hornbach
Holding AG Group and at the Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG subgroup.
Note: The extensive interim reports of Hornbach Holding AG and
Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG can be downloaded from the Investor Relations section
of the company's homepage at: http://www.hornbach-group.com/reports.
Key Figures of the Hornbach Group for the 1st Quarter at a Glance
<pre>
Key figures of the Hornbach Holding AG Group 1st 1st Change
Quarter Quarter
(in Euro million, unless otherwise stated) 2014/2015 2013/2014 in %
Net sales 1,035.1 892,0 16,0
of which Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG subgroup 976.7 838.9 16.4
of which Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH
subgroup 58.0 52.7 10.1
of which in other European countries 404.7 362.4 11.7
Like-for-like sales growth (DIY) 1) 14.6 % -5.9 %
Gross margin (as percent of net sales) 37.7 % 36.7 %
EBIT 87.3 51.1 70.8
Earnings per preference share (in Euro) 2.77 1.62 71.0
Investments 34.4 31.1 10.6
</pre>
<pre>
Misc. key figures of the Hornbach Holding May 31, February 28, Change
AG Group 2014 2014
in %
Shareholders' equity as percent of total
assets 48.6 % 49.3 %
Number of DIY stores with garden centers 143 141 1.4
Sales area of DIY stores with garden
centers in 000 m² (BHB) 1,669 1,647 1.3
Number of employees 2) 16,381 16,021 2.2
</pre>
1) net of currency items 2) head count at reporting date including
persons in marginal employment
Rounding up or down may lead to discrepancies between percentages and
totals. Calculation of percentage figures based on Euro 000s.
End of Corporate News
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Language: English
Company: Hornbach Holding AG
Le Quartier Hornbach 19
67433 Neustadt an der WeinstraÃe
Germany
ISIN: DE0006083439
WKN: 608343
Indices: SDAX
Listed: Regulierter Markt in Frankfurt (Prime Standard);
Freiverkehr in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Hamburg, Hannover,
München, Stuttgart
End of News DGAP News-Service
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275231 26.06.2014
DGAP-News: Hornbach Holding AG: Hornbach posts jump in first-quarter sales and earnings
| Source: EQS Group AG