German Ceconomy, the holding that includes MediaMarkt and Saturn, has had a tough quarter due to negative currency and calendar effects. Still, the company reaffirms its prospects for the rest of the year.
Late Easter
In the second quarter of its financial year 2018/2019, Ceconomy suffered a turnover decrease of 2.0 % down to 5.01 billion euros, partly brought on by negative currency effects. The late Easter date (which put the holiday in the third quarter of financial year) could have played a part as well, according to the company.
In the Germany-Austria-Switzerland region turnover remained fairly stable, but in Western and Southern Europe revenue dropped by 3.5 %. In Eastern Europe (including Turkey), the concern was troubled by currency effects as well as poor performance in Poland. One positive development was the growth of online activities by 13.4 %, but that could not quite compensate for the drop in offline sales. Total turnover from e-commerce was 699 million euros, which represents almost 14 %.
Savings
Despite decreasing turnover, the company result was similar to last year’s. Ceconomy is starting to see the effects of its reorganisation plan, especially in Germany. As a result, the company has more control over its expenses. In the second quarter, the company even made a net profit of 20 million euros (whereas last year, that period saw a loss of 47 million), but that profit is really entirely due to the sale of Metro shares.
The concern will be sticking to its established targets. Ceconomy will be continuing its reorganisation plan, expecting a slight turnover rise for the financial year as a whole.
