Hornbach expects only slight growth for 2024/2025

Hornbach expects only slight growth this year. Net sales in the 2024/2025 financial year are expected to slightly exceed the previous year's level. Albrecht Hornbach, CEO of Hornbach Management AG, and Erich Harsch, CEO of Hornbach Baumarkt AG, made this clear at the annual press conference in Frankfurt today. They spoke of a complex macroeconomic environment and ongoing macroeconomic challenges. The company remains cautious in its forecasts for the current financial year, said Harsch. However, Hornbach is expecting a positive performance in the first quarter due to the strong start to the spring season caused by the weather. “Do it yourself is the order of the day. That is the opportunity for the DIY sector", emphasised Hornbach.

The figures already communicated in a trading update were confirmed at the press conference. According to these figures, the Group's DIY stores generated sales of EUR 5.7800 billion in the past financial year (ending 29 February 2024); this corresponds to a decline of 1.1 percent compared to the previous year. In Germany, sales fell by 2.6 per cent to EUR 2.7879 billion. In the other European countries in which Hornbach operates, sales rose by 0.3 per cent to Euro 2.9921 billion. Net sales for the Group as a whole fell by 1.6 per cent to Euro 6.1609 billion. “These are very solid figures”, commented Karin Dohm, CFO of Hornbach Management AG and Hornbach Baumarkt AG, particularly in view of the “resilience we have been able to demonstrate”.

According to Erich Harsch, the retail company has been able to reduce its inventories. He also emphasised three key messages. “Firstly: our retail company is well on track.” The slight decline still represents significant growth compared to the 2019/20 financial year before the pandemic. “Secondly, our customers obviously like coming to us.” Customer frequency has increased by 2.0 per cent and the market share in Germany and abroad is significantly higher than before the pandemic. “The third message is that our employees make a significant contribution to our high customer popularity”, Harsch continued.