Higher costs and lower margins
There were mixed feelings for Hema: its like-for-like turnover also grew 6 %, but its operational costs and its lower margins pushed its EBITDA down from 20.7 million euro to 15.3 million euro. The group experienced turnover in all its markets, including in the Netherlands (+ 7.9 % to 209.3 million euro), in France (+ 23.9 % to 15.8 million euro) and in Germany (+ 13 % to 3.1 million euro). The sole exception is BeLux (Belgium and Luxembourg), where turnover slipped slightly to 34 million euro, but the chain hopes it can still benefit from the renovation of its local stores, a process that was finalized in the second quarter.
“We are happy with the turnover growth we have managed in the second quarter of this year. Our normalized EBITDA and net result are still under pressure, but our year-on-year result has shown a significant improvement from the first quarter onward”, CEO Tjeerd Jegen said. “Even though the first results are encouraging, we still have plenty of work in the remainder of the fiscal year to improve our results structurally.”
