HORNBACH HOLDING AG & CO. KGAA 
"As expected, our earnings have improved significantly compared with the previous year's quarter, which was impacted by cold and rainy spring weather", explained Erich Harsch, CEO of Hornbach Baumarkt AG, on Tuesday with regard to the gardening season. However, declining interest rates and lower inflation had not yet prompted customers to spend more. As a result, the start to the second quarter was poor.
The Management Board has therefore only confirmed its cautious targets for the year, which envisage a slight increase in sales and an adjusted operating result (EBIT) at the previous year's level or at best slightly higher.
In the period from March to May, Group turnover increased by 1.8 percent to 1.8 billion euros. Thanks to cost discipline and higher trading margins, adjusted EBIT soared by almost 34% to 146.4 million euros.
The largest subsidiary of the Hornbach Holding retail group is Hornbach Baumarkt AG, which operates 171 DIY megastores with garden centers and online stores in nine European countries. The do-it-yourself trend during the coronavirus pandemic had brought the DIY sector booming revenues. Subsequently, high energy prices and inflation put a damper on customers' spending mood.
(Report by Anneli Palmen, edited by Ralf Banser; if you have any queries, please contact our editorial team at berlin.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for politics and the economy) or frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com (for companies and markets)).
