Minor sales drop for Fnac in first semester

“This confirms the strength of our company”

“Fnac Group’s performance in the first semester of 2015 confirms the strength of our company. Our increased French sales with a stabilized gross margin, despite the difficult economic situation and increased marketing efforts, once again underpins the power of our company”, CEO Alexandre Bompard said.

He also emphasized that the results were “positive effects of the company’s transformation: continued growth online, strong omnichannel sales increases, increased sales in new product ranges and continued expansion of new formulas.”

Success online and with new product ranges

Its online sales have, for the second trimester in a row, grown double-digit numbers, particularly in France. The online marketplaces have also contributed more to the online turnover: 17 % of online sales in the first semester were made on marketplaces. 44 % of Fnac.com’s sales in the first semester of 2015 are now omnichannel-focused, up from 30 % in the same time frame in 2014.

Fnac has also added omnichannel functionalities abroad, with the introduction of “click & mag” in Spain at the end of the second trimester and with the planned introduction of in-store pick-up points in Belgium. New product ranges have also increased their impact on the total turnover, up from 10.9 % in 2014 to 13.1 % in the first trimester of 2015 and 14.6 % in the second trimester. 

Over the course of 2015, the group hopes to save 30 to 40 million euro thanks to higher productivity and efficiency, while it also hopes to increase its operational margins above 3 %. Fnac Group’s operational income has nevertheless increased to a loss of 29 million euro, compared to a 24.9 million euro loss it incurred in the first half of 2014.