The Hamburg e-commerce specialist About You Holding SE suffered a small decline in sales in the third quarter of the 2023/24 financial year. However, due to lower costs and discounts, the company was able to significantly reduce its loss. This emerges from an interim report published on Thursday.
In September, unusually warm weather weighs on demand
Accordingly, group sales in the period from September to November were 551.9 million euros, 0.5 percent below the level of the same quarter of the previous year.
However, the online retailer experienced an upward trend over the course of the reporting period: “After the start of the autumn/winter season was delayed in September due to the unusually warm weather conditions in Central Europe, development gained momentum, particularly in November,” the company said.
In the DACH region, which includes Germany, Austria and Switzerland, revenue amounted to 249.9 million euros, which corresponded to a decrease of 7.0 percent compared to the corresponding previous year’s level. In the other European markets, however, they increased by 7.1 percent to 285.2 million euros. Sales in the IT services division TME fell by 3.8 percent to 51.4 million euros.
Cost reductions and lower discounts ensure improved earnings
Because the gross margin increased due to lower discounts and logistics and marketing expenses were significantly lower than in the same period last year, the company was able to make further progress in earnings. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), adjusted for expenses for share-based payments and special effects, amounted to 19.8 million euros, after being at -43.1 million euros in the same quarter of the previous year. The net loss was accordingly reduced significantly: it fell from 62.0 to 10.4 million euros.
Co-CEO Tarik Müller was satisfied with the development. “We are proud to end the quarter with an adjusted operating result in the black,” he said in a statement. “In order to achieve our annual forecast, we are focusing on efficiency measures without neglecting targeted investments in the brand. Despite the slight decline in sales compared to the previous year, we show that we can significantly increase our profitability.”
The Management Board continues to expect positive adjusted EBITDA for the current financial year
In view of the results in the first three quarters, the management board now expects sales growth for the entire financial year “around the lower end” of the current forecast range, which envisages an increase of one to eleven percent. An increase “in the lower half” of the target corridor was previously expected.
The earnings forecast remained unchanged. It envisages “reaching the break-even point at the level of adjusted EBITDA for the current financial year”.