The corona lockdown also ensures winners: The hardware store chain Hornbach recently achieved a large increase in sales. There are reasons for the rush of customers.
The hardware store group creates a record quarter in the Corona crisis. In the first business quarter at the end of May, sales climbed – thanks to high growth at the Hornbach Baumarkt subgroup – by 18.4 percent to 1.49 billion euros, as the company announced.
The main reason for this development: in many places, the hardware store remained open even during the lockdown. Many people therefore used the free time they had gained for gardening.
Adjusted operating profit (EBIT) jumped 78.4 percent to almost 173 million euros. Hornbach justified this with the increase in sales and “only slightly increased costs”. In the crisis, customers would have mainly asked for DIY (do-it-yourself) products and ordered more frequently in the online shop.
“Should there be any major setbacks in the aftermath, I think increasing our sales and earnings forecast is increasingly likely,” said CEO Albrecht Hornbach. So far, the Group has forecast revenues at the previous year’s level and an EBIT slightly below the previous year’s value.
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