Ceconomy, the holding company behind MediaMarkt and Saturn, is recovering from the corona crisis faster than expected. The German company is raising its forecasts for this financial year, although thousands of jobs are still at risk.
Stronger growth after lockdowns
The figures for the broken financial year 2019/2020 will be significantly better than first expected, says electronics group Ceconomy. The parent holding company above MediaMarkt and Saturn has seen strong growth in online sales since the lockdowns and is also noticing a significant increase in the number of customers.
People are investing more in electronics, both for work and leisure, now that they spend a lot of time at home. That is why the German retail group is revising its forecasts for the 2019/20 financial year, which ended at the end of September, upwards. MediaMarket and Saturn are exceeding both analysts’ and their own forecasts, the company states.
Consequences for restructuring?
On average, analysts assumed in September that the operating result (EBIT) would be around 176 million euros. In July, Ceconomy itself was still counting on an operating profit of 165 to 185 million euros, based on the figures for the first nine months. But it will be more, although the company has not yet published any concrete figures.
The news comes two months after the announcement of a major restructuring at the electronics retailer. At the beginning of August, the company announced that it wants to save 100 million euros a year in costs. As part of this, loss-making stores will close and as many as 3,500 jobs will be at risk. It is not yet known whether the better than expected results will change the restructuring plans.
