Higher costs are causing problems for Hornbach

The Hornbach Holding share lost around three and a half percent to 76.40 euros shortly after trading started on Monday, making it one of the bigger losers in the SDAX small-cap index, which was also hit overall. Since the turn of the year, the paper has lost around nine percent.

Analyst Volker Bosse from Baader Bank rated the results as solid despite everything – given the difficult market environment and subdued consumer sentiment, especially in Germany. Despite the lower operating profit, the figures were slightly better than the market expected, he wrote.

Sales rose by almost four percent

According to preliminary figures, in the past financial year up to the end of March, Hornbach’s sales rose by almost four percent to a good 6.4 billion euros. This was clearly above the previous year’s figure of 6.2 billion euros.

However, operating profit before interest and taxes (adjusted EBIT) adjusted for special items fell by almost two percent to EUR 264.7 million. The board had expected results to be roughly at the previous year’s level, which, according to the company’s definition, includes a deviation of five percent upwards or downwards.

Higher costs

The decline was primarily due to the fourth quarter with the weak sales months from December to February. During this time, Hornbach was unable to fully offset the increased costs. The typical seasonal adjusted operating loss (adjusted EBIT) was 14 percent higher than the year before at EUR 34.8 million.

According to its own information, the group plans to publish more detailed figures for the past financial year on March 25th. The final and audited financial results are due to follow on May 19th.