Hornbach reports record growth in the first half of the year

The German Hornbach group has increased its DIY store sales in the first half of 2020 (February to August) by 20.6 per cent to EUR 2.9490 bn (net). The 160 locations on the reporting date achieved a sales growth of 19.4 per cent like-for-like net of currency effects.
The net sales of the domestic DIY stores and the online shop rose by 24.0 per cent to EUR 1.5570 bn. Like-for-like sales in Germany grew by 24.3 per cent. In the eight countries outside Germany, net sales increased by 17.1 per cent to EUR 1.3919 bn. The foreign portion of sales thus lay at 47.2 per cent. Like-for-like sales net of currency effects grew in the rest of Europe by 14.4 per cent. The online business gained momentum due to the coronavirus pandemic and rose in the first half of the year by two thirds throughout the group.
At the half-year balance press conference, chairman of the executive board Albrecht Hornbach spoke of a record growth since stock market floatation in the year 1993, whereby the second quarter (June to August) with a plus of 22.7 per cent still lay over the result of the first quarter (+17.8 per cent).
The company expects a continued positive development for the second half of the year and gauges the sales growth to be at +9 to +15 per cent overall, if no unexpected events occur.