Hornbach earns 32 per cent abroad

The German DIY retailer Hornbach names like-for-like sales growth along with a slightly increased operating margin as the basic reasons why the holding company’s pre-tax income was 28.8 per cent up in the first six months of 2003 over the same period last year. Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG’s average same-store growth rate of 3.1 per cent is made up of a 2.3 per cent plus in Germany and 5.5 per cent abroad. Net sales outside Germany have shot up by 54.2 per cent, so that the foreign component now amounts to 31.9 per cent. Four new openings are planned in advance of the balance sheet date of 29 February 2004, three of them in Germany. One more scheduled opening abroad has been put off until the next financial year.