The Hamburg trading and services group Otto Group expects losses in sales in online business for the 2023/24 financial year, which runs until February 29th.
According to a current forecast, global e-commerce revenues in the current year have fallen on a comparable basis – i.e. adjusted for changes in the group portfolio and currency effects – by around nine percent to almost 10.8 billion euros, the group announced on Tuesday.
However, in accordance with the strategic goals, the decline in sales is “accompanied by an expected improvement in operational profitability,” the group emphasized. According to its own statements, the Otto Group is “fundamentally sticking to investments in logistics, IT and customer-oriented solutions in the area of artificial intelligence”.
Sebastian Klauke, who is responsible for e-commerce, technology, business intelligence and corporate ventures on the group board, summarized the developments of the past few months. “In the current financial year, securing results was and is the priority. In this respect, a decline in sales in e-commerce was to be expected. “In addition, Christmas business was less strong than hoped, both here and in the market as a whole,” he explained in a statement.
Klauke emphasized that the “management of the group” was still “successful”. “In the current 2023/24 financial year, we will see an improvement in our operating profitability compared to the previous year.” Looking to the future, the Management Board was confident: The Otto Group is “storm-tested” and will “emerge from this crisis stronger.” he explained.