Baumax sales down by five per cent

Baumax Group net sales were down by 5.3 per cent to € 1.13 bn last year. In the domestic market, the Austrian market leader recorded a 2.6 per cent decline in sales compared to the previous year. As a result the losses in Austria were reduced by 54.5 per cent on a deficit of € 153 mio. The group’s operative EBITDA increased from € four mio last year to € ten mio.
However non-recurring items of € 94 mio are not included in the EBITDA, so the group’s result actually comes to € -189 mio. According to a statement from the company, the non-recurring items serve as further risk protection and are mostly related to revaluation of real estate in the subsidiaries in central and east European countries and to the depreciation of old stock due to the reorganisation of the product range in the restructuring plan. According to this information, the first quarter 2014 has exceeded forecasts and seen significant increase in sales and earnings, which are to be expected particularly from the new website and online store. Furthermore the big loss-making stores in Turkey, Rumania, Bulgaria and Croatia will be closed down or sold off by the end of the year. Therefore the company expects a significant improvement in results for 2014.