Higher sales balanced by higher losses at Byggmax

Swedish DIY retailer Byggmax increased its sales considerably in the first quarter, but also incurred higher losses than normal for the start of the year. Sales rose by 29.5 per cent compared with the same period in the previous year to SEK 737.9 mio. Of this figure, the Skånska Byggvaror Group, which was acquired by Byggmax on 4 January 2016, accounted for SEK 101.7 mio. The EBITDA showed a loss amounting to SEK 24.2 mio (2015: positive SEK 3.0 mio), of which SEK 18.5 mio was attributable to Skånska Byggvaror. The overall EBIT was SEK 58.2 mio in the negative (2015: - SEK 16.1 mio).
Management has explained the high losses by a lower gross margin in Norway due to exchange-rate effects and thus the fact that the company is selling more online goods with a lower gross margin than the in-store product range. Sales by the online shop rose by 45 per cent.
Six new store openings between January and March comprised one Byggmax store in Sweden and five Skånska Byggvaror stores in Sweden. Five stores were switched to the Byggmax 2.0 format. All Byggmax stores are expected to be converted to this new format by May 2016.
The group currently operates a total of 131 stores in Sweden, Norway and Finland. Due to the voltatile property market and related costs, the expansion target of 10 to 15 new Byggmax stores might not be achieved this year, according to the quarterly report. Five new Skånska Byggvaror stores are also to be opened.