Hornbach reports good earnings

Sales in the combined Hornbach Holding AG group rose in the recent 2009/2010 financial year (to 28 February 2010) by 3.7 oer cent to € 2.85 bn. Operating profit (EBIT) improved by 14 per cent to € 152.5 mio. This means that earnings in the group's core business (DIY retailing and builders' merchanting) experienced growth for the third consecutive year. The company announced these figures yesterday at its press briefing on annual results. As chairman Albrecht Hornbach pointed out, "Our operational business has once again increased its earnings on the previous year. The group is now in fantastic form, having reached an equity ratio in excess of 42 per cent and a level of liquidity that has once more risen." The Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG sub-group increased its sales by 3.4 per cent to € 2 686 mio (prev. year € 2 599 mio). Sales of the DIY and garden stores throughout the group rose by 0.7 per cent like-for-like. The group showed restraint in terms of investment expenditure. Just two new Hornbach DIY and garden stores opened during the reporting year, following four new openings the year before. This indicates a fall in investment expenditure of around € 130 mio to € 97 mio at the last count.