The need of the hour

When a company boss has to announce a drop in sales from the past and says that he expects only slight growth in the near future, you shouldn't expect him to do it in a good mood. Not so Albrecht Hornbach. The CEO of Hornbach Management AG opened the retail group's annual press conference in May with the words: "At Hornbach, we are looking forward to the development of our company with optimism and confidence."

The company expects net sales in the 2024/2025 financial year to be only slightly above the previous year's level. The talk is of a complex macroeconomic environment and ongoing macroeconomic challenges.

But Albrecht Hornbach's in-depth analysis strengthens his confidence. He spoke of a "transformation process in which our society finds itself. It is taking place throughout Europe" – and is promoting, among other things, a retreat into the private sphere, including into one's own four walls, which are to be beautified. Hornbach concluded: "Do it yourself is the order of the day. This is the opportunity for the DIY sector."

The good mood among the management of the retail group is also clearly fuelled by a look at the competition and the extremely sales-boosting years since the coronavirus. Hornbach had already communicated the figures for the past financial year (ending 29 February 2024) in a trading update at the end of March and has now confirmed them.

According to the report, the group's sales in the construction market fell by 1.1 per cent to €5.7800 billion. In Germany, sales declined by 2.6 per cent to €2.7879 billion. In the other European countries in which Hornbach operates, there was a plus of 0.3 per cent to €2.9921 billion. The net sales of the group as a whole fell by 1.6 per cent to €6.1609 billion. This reflects the 9.6 per cent decline in the (relatively small, with sales of €381 million) building materials trading division Hornbach Baustoff Union.

In both business areas – retail and building materials – Hornbach is in a significantly better position than its competitors. The BHB reported a 3.1 per cent drop in sales for DIY stores in Germany in 2023. In the Baumarkt + Garten statistics from Dähne Verlag, the top 20 in Germany lost 2.8 per cent; if sales abroad are also included, the 20 largest German DIY store operators…