Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA: Hornbach Group maintains strong growth in second quarter of 2020/21 as well

Hornbach Group maintains strong growth in second quarter of 2020/21 as well

Consolidated sales grow 20.2 % to Euro 3,132 million in first six months of 2020/21 / Adjusted EBIT rises 68.7 % to Euro 334.7 million / Forecast specified in greater detail

Bornheim, September 29, 2020.
The Hornbach Group (Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA Group) benefited once again in the summer months from consumers spending more time in their own four walls, a trend that has been intensified by the coronavirus pandemic. The temporary restrictions on DIY retail sales, which substantially reduced customer frequencies in some countries and regions at times in the spring quarter, have all been lifted since the beginning of May. At 22.7 %, the rate of growth in consolidated sales in the months from June to August was therefore even stronger than in the period from March to May (+17.8 %). Overall, consolidated sales for the first half of the financial year (March 1 to August 31, 2020) rose by 20.2 % to Euro 3,132.2 million (2019/20: Euro 2,605.9 million). Together with improved cost ratios, this dynamic sales growth led to a significant jump in earnings. In view of the ongoing pleasing earnings performance in the second quarter and a more positive assessment of the risks involved in the coronavirus pandemic, the company has now specified its full-year forecast in greater detail.

At Hornbach Baumarkt AG, the largest operating subgroup (DIY retail) which operated a total of 160 DIY megastores with garden centers and online shops in nine European countries as of August 31, 2020, like-for-like sales net of currency items grew by 20.6 % to Euro 2,949.0 million in the first half (2019/20: Euro 2,444.7 million). On a like-for-like basis and net of currency items, the DIY stores with garden centers generated sales growth of 19.4 % in the first six months.

Net sales at the HORNBACH DIY stores and online shop in Germany rose by 24.0 % to Euro 1,557.0 million in the first half of 2020/21 (2019/20: Euro 1,255.8 million). On a like-for-like basis, sales in Germany grew by 24.3 % (2019/20: 7.4 %). In the eight countries outside Germany ("Other European Countries"), net sales rose by 17.1 % to Euro 1,391.9 million (2019/20: Euro 1,188.9 million). The international share of sales at the Hornbach Baumarkt AG subgroup therefore amounted to 47.2 % (2019/20: 48.6 %). Net of currency items, like-for-like sales in Other European Countries increased by 14.4 % (2019/20: 9.2 %). Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the online business gained further momentum and grew by around two thirds in the first half of the year.

"Consumers still have significantly greater demand for DIY store products and are using our online shops more often than before the pandemic. We currently see no signs of an abrupt end to this consumer trend. But we have to remember that consumer confidence could also evaporate in such uncertain times", commented Albrecht Hornbach, CEO of Hornbach Management AG.

The Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH subgroup which currently operates 33 builders' merchant outlets in south-western Germany and two outlets close to the border in France (Lorraine), increased its half-year sales by 13.8 % to Euro 182.4 million (2019/20: Euro 160.3 million).

Disproportionate growth in operating earnings

In conjunction with improved cost ratios, the highly dynamic sales performance led to a substantial increase in adjusted EBIT at the Hornbach Group. Operating earnings adjusted to excluded non-operating earnings items increased by 59.5 % to Euro 161.9 million in the second quarter of 2020/21 (2019/20: Euro 101.5 million) and by 68.7 % to Euro 334.7 million in the first half of 2020/21 (2019/20: Euro 198.4 million). The half-year adjusted EBIT margin improved year-on-year from 7.6 % to 10.7 %. Six-month earnings per share grew year-on-year to Euro 11.57 (2019/20: Euro 6.72).

On the level of the Hornbach Baumarkt AG subgroup, adjusted EBIT increased by 79.1 % to Euro 307.0 million in the first half of 2020/21 (2019/20: Euro 171.4 million). Earnings per Baumarkt share are reported at Euro 6.62 (2019/2020: Euro 3.35). The Hornbach Baustoff Union GmbH and Hornbach Immobilien AG subgroups contributed adjusted EBIT of Euro 5.7 million (2019/20: Euro 3.8 million) and Euro 29.4 million (2019/20: Euro 29.3 million) to group earnings.

Board of Management specifies full-year forecast for 2020/21 in greater detail

Looking to the second half, Albrecht Hornbach added: "We are more positive than before in our assessment of our ongoing operating performance in the international Hornbach network. Our assessment has also benefited from developments on the political level and the lessons learned in containing the coronavirus crisis. We are convinced that DIY retail, which demonstrated right at the peak of the crisis that stationary customer businesses can be responsibly organized with high safety standards, will most likely not be subject to any more widespread store closures. Having said that, we still face macroeconomic risks which could lead consumer confidence to take a knock."

To account for this, the updated annual forecast published by way of ad-hoc announcement on August 10, 2020 has therefore been narrowed, with the lower limits being raised. Consolidated sales for the 2020/21 financial year are now expected to show growth in a corridor of between plus 8 % (previously: plus 5 %) and plus 15 % (2019/20: Euro 4.7 billion). Adjusted EBIT is expected to range between Euro 270 million (previously: Euro 230 million) and Euro 330 million (2019/20: Euro 227 million).

Third Sustainability Magazine published

The Hornbach Group has published its annual Sustainability Magazine in parallel with the Half-Year Report. Outside the statutory reporting framework, this offers space for topics that are important to the company, its employees, and customers. Readers can find out more, for example, about how Hornbach mastered the coronavirus crisis with great energy and innovative solutions, why sustainable products do not automatically have to be more expensive, and how Hornbach deals with the important commodity of timber.

Note: The Half-Year Financial Reports of Hornbach Holding AG & Co. KGaA and Hornbach Baumarkt AG and the Sustainability Report can be downloaded from the "Publications" section of our website. Link: www.hornbach-group.com/FinancialReports
 

Key Figures of the Hornbach Group for the 2^nd Quarter and 1^st Half Year at a Glance
 

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

¹⁾ Excluding currency items
²⁾ Including minority interests pursuant to IFRS