After the wave of bankruptcies within the parent company Signa Group, the future of the German department store operator Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof GmbH is currently completely open. Shortly before the turn of the year, new insights into the retailer’s recent past emerged: Last Thursday, Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof’s annual financial statements for the 2021/22 financial year were published in the Federal Gazette.
In the financial year that ended at the end of September 2022, the company generated total sales of 2.86 billion euros. This corresponded to an increase of 35.3 percent compared to the previous year, which was significantly more affected by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. Retail revenues increased by 40.0 percent to almost 2.60 billion euros, but were, according to the group, “still well below expectations”.
Despite the increase in sales and the resulting improvement in earnings, the retailer continued to be deeply in the red. The loss before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) was reduced from 548.7 to 207.4 million euros compared to the previous year, and the net loss fell from 622.6 to 342.3 million euros.
The company had to file for bankruptcy again shortly after the end of the financial year. On October 31, 2022, the management submitted an application to the Essen District Court to open protective shield proceedings, which later turned into self-administration insolvency proceedings.
At the end of May 2023, the procedure was canceled following the adoption of the insolvency plan. Just a few months later, the department store group is once again at a crossroads, despite recent restructuring efforts.