News: Hornbach beats the recession

Baumax: two new stores abroad The Austrian DIY store operator Baumax has opened two new stores abroad. In Prague, capital of the Czech Republic, it has opened a two-storey outlet. This is the country’s biggest store with a retail area of 15 000 m², including a 2 000 m² garden centre. A branch that had become too small was closed. Baumax moved into the Czech Republic 21 years ago and now operates 24 DIY stores here, making the country Baumax’s biggest foreign market. A new Baumax store with a retail area of 15 000 m² has also opened its doors in the Bulgarian capital Sofia. The company has eight stores in Bulgaria, where it has been operating for five years. Hornbach beats the recession Sales by the German DIY store and garden centre operator Hornbach in 2012/2013 marginally surpassed those of the previous year. Group sales in the period from 1 March 2012 to 28 February 2013 increased by 0.8 per cent to € 3.2 bn, thus living up to the company’s own forecast. The company conceded, however, that it had felt the effects of the recession in Europe in the second half of the year and especially in the final quarter of 2012/2013. These effects manifested themselves primarily in a decline in like-for-like sales in the DIY stores and garden centres outside Germany. By contrast, during the year under review Hornbach’s German stores achieved like-for-like sales to match the record level of the previous year and gained further market share. Including new store openings, the sub-group Hornbach-Baumarkt-AG increased its overall (net) sales by 0.6 per cent to € 3 bn. The sub-group operated 138 large-format DIY stores and garden centres in nine countries at the balance sheet date. The net sales of the DIY stores and garden centres in Germany increased in fiscal 2012/2013 by 0.7 per cent to € 1.74 bn (previous year: € 1.73 bn). In like-for-like terms, i.e. not taking new openings and closures in the last twelve months into account, Hornbach stores in Germany maintained the outstanding level of the previous year. In fiscal 2011/2012, the German stores recorded the highest increase in like-for-like sales since 1996 with an increase of 5.8 per cent. The UK’s Pet Care Trade Association changes its name The UK’s Pet Care Trade Association is changing its name to the Pet Industry Fe­deration in a move designed to establish the organisation as the pet industry’s foremost trade body. Structural changes will make the organisation truly user-led, giving members greater influence…