Hema sees growth in online and Germany

Dutch Hema has raised its quarterly turnover by 2.8 % to 291.4 million euro and halved its net loss to 6 million euro, as a result of a strong growth online and offline. The retailer focuses on Germany as a target for future expansion plans.

More apparel, less food

Turnover from apparel rose 7.4 %, while household goods and personal care products brought in an extra 2.5 %. The only downside was the food turnover, which went down 1.9 %. Geographically, the Dutch chain sees three main areas of growth in its first quarter: online (+ 25 %), France (+ 19 %) and Germany (+ 18 % thanks to three extra stores). The chain called the results of its first Austrian stores “encouraging”, prompting it to open more stores soon. Hema wants to open up to 30 stores outside of Belgium and the Netherlands this year, including their first stores in the Middle East.

CEO Tjeerd Jegen says Hema realised a higher margin through a more successful purchase policy, but suffered from the bad weather. “We remain committed to our growth strategy and will continue to invest in our international expansion. We are particularly focused on growing our business in Germany over the next few years because our new generation stores are performing well. We will also continue to invest in e-commerce. Pleasingly we recorded once again double-digit growth in online sales”, the Dutchman said. However, not a word was said about the possible sale of the company by Lion Capital.