Despite the adversities caused by the pandemic, the German subsidiary of the sporting goods retailer Decathlon was able to achieve growth in sales and earnings in the past financial year. 2021 was “a very exciting year” for the company, said André Weinert, CEO of Decathlon Germany, in a statement published on Thursday. “The corona lockdown slowed us down considerably in the first five months. With ambitious goals and a motivated team, we still managed to make 2021 the most successful year in the history of Decathlon Germany.” Weinert emphasized that he was “very proud of that” and expressly thanked “all employees for their commitment “.
The net sales of Decathlon Germany amounted to 700 million euros, which means an increase of 4.9 percent compared to the previous year and a new high since entering the market in 1986. The engine of growth was the online business, whose revenues increased by 50 percent. The e-commerce share of total sales thus grew to 40 percent, after only 28 percent in 2020. The sporting goods retailer almost tripled its earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) compared to the previous year: it jumped from 10.8 million euros to 30.9 million euros.
Decathlon Germany had already presented the guidelines for further success in November: With the strategy “Redesign the playing field”, the company says it is focusing on “sustainable growth, both online and offline”. The goal is to double total sales in Germany by 2026 and “to become the top address for sports products in Germany,” Managing Director Weinert announced at the time. The number of branches is also to be increased to 110.
For 2022, Decathlon also has a goal:. “This year our goal is to break the one billion mark,” said Germany boss André Weinert of the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Thursday. That would be an increase of a good 42 percent compared to 2021.