Hornbach confirms sales and reduces EBIT forecast

The German DIY group Hornbach has confirmed its sales forecast for the first quarter, but reduced its EBIT forecast for the 2022/2023 financial year. The executive board expects net sales to rise by 8 per cent to EUR 1.813 bn in the first quarter of 2022/23 (1 March 2022 to 31 May 2022). According to the company, the first quarter was generally characterised by stable demand for building and do-it-yourself products.

It added in a statement, however, that the macroeconomic outlook and challenges related to inflation, supply chains and product pricing continued to emerge and solidify in the second quarter, further complicating the outlook for the remainder of the year. In view of the continued margin pressures and in line with its conservative forecasting style, the board therefore felt it was appropriate to update the outlook at this time. “We are reducing our full-year adjusted EBIT forecast from the previously projected level of a slight year-on-year decline and now expect a low double-digit percentage decline in adjusted EBIT compared to the record level of the 2021/22 financial year (EUR 362.6 mio)," the statement reads verbatim.