The Berlin glasses dealer Mister Spex SE had to accept sales loss and a higher loss in the 2024 financial year. This emerges from the current annual report that the company published on Thursday. Now management hopes for positive effects from the comprehensive reform program “Spexfocus” initiated last August.
In Germany, sales remain stable
In the past financial year, sales were 216.8 million euros. In this way, he declined by three percent compared to 2023, but was within the forecast breakdown of 210 to 230 million euros.
In the core market in Germany, which is the focus of the corporate strategy, sales rose by 0.3 percent to EUR 169.0 million. The proceeds in the local branches grew by two percent on a comparable area.
The effects of the latest changes were noticeable in abroad. Sales shrank by 13 percent to 47.7 million euros. The significant losses are due to “the strategic realignment in the context of ‘Spexfocus’ and the closure of all stores in Austria, Sweden and Switzerland”, the company said. In the meantime, the glasses dealer “only focuses on online business outside of the home market”.
The net loss increases by 77 percent
Despite the restriction of discounts and cost reductions in the course of the austerity measures implemented from late summer, the result adjusted for special effects before interest, taxes and depreciation (EBITDA) fell to -5.8 million euros. In the previous year it was still positive with 0.9 million euros.
The bottom line was that the bottom line was a net loss of almost 84.9 million euros, not least due to considerable transformation -related disposal loads. This increased by 77 percent compared to the previous year in which it had been 47.9 million euros.
CFO Stephan Schulz-Gohritz, who has led the company as an interim CEO in recent months, summed up the latest development. “We initiated the company’s transformation in the 2024 financial year. The aim of this transformation is to position the company as a profitable optician in the market,” he said in a statement. “We will systematically improve our profitability, tighten processes and sharpen our focus on margin -strong products.”
For 2025, management expects a decline in sales by five to ten percent
For the current year, the company expects a “continued challenging retail environment”. In addition, the “price repositioning and the reduction of discounts” would have a negative impact on sales development. Specifically, the management predicts a decline in sales by five to ten percent compared to the previous year for 2025.
At the beginning of the new financial year, the company also announced the result before interest and taxes (EBIT) as a “central performance indicator” in order to “present the operational performance more clearly, to create transparency through sustainable profitability and to lay the basis for long -term added value”. For 2025, the board is currently expecting an EBIT margin in the area of -5 and -15 percent.
The reforms should “pave the way for sustainable and dynamic growth”
Schulz-Gohritz, who will be handed over to Tobias Krauss in early April, relies on the medium-term effects of the ongoing reform program. “Despite a challenging market environment, we successfully develop our business model,” he said. “Our O ffl INE business in Germany has proven to be an important growth driver. This shows that our Omnichannel approach is effective and that we are on the right track with our strategy to realize sustainable, profitable growth.” The company is currently expecting that the measures initiated should “pave the way for sustainable and dynamic growth from 2026”.