High inflation and sluggish consumption following the Russian attack on Ukraine pushed the Otto Group into the red. It may be some time before the situation improves.
“It will take two years to return to the old level of profitability,” said CEO Alexander Birken on Wednesday in Hamburg when presenting the business figures for the 2022/23 financial year. In order to be at the forefront of the rapid change in online trading, Otto is undauntedly continuing to invest. In 2023/24 alone, investments in the three-digit million range are planned, for example in the delivery service and the expansion of the group’s own logistics.
Loss: More than 400 million euros
In 2022/23 (until the end of February) the Hamburg service and retail group posted a loss of 413 million euros. In the previous year, which benefited from the online boom during the corona pandemic, there was still a profit of more than 1.8 billion euros on the books, after around 842 million euros in the first corona year.
At EUR 16.2 billion, sales in 2022/23 were at the same level as in the previous year (EUR 16.1 billion). The internationalization of the group, which had already been initiated under Birken’s pre-predecessor Michael Otto, proved to be a support. While domestic sales collapsed by 9.2 percent to 9.0 billion euros, business volume abroad climbed by 9.6 percent to 7.2 billion euros.
“The figures show that we were not able to escape the market trend either. The very eventful and moving times against the background of the terrible war in Ukraine, the energy crisis, inflation and the associated slump in consumption are also reflected in our business,” said CEO Alexander Birken, who was “not satisfied” with the results He explained the slump in Germany, at least in part, with a return to pre-pandemic consumer behavior: More money is being spent on travel and culture again, and with the end of the corona measures, more is being bought in stationary retail again.
Further losses for the current financial year cannot be ruled out
The Otto Group Board of Management is only reluctant to comment on the prospects for 2023/24. “There will be a return to normal, but I can’t say when,” said Birken. A stable level of sales and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the low three-digit million range are expected. In 2022/23, EBIT was only 22 million euros. This means that it cannot be ruled out that the current year will once again end in the red.
Birken indicated a year ago that price increases, for example, could not be passed on in full, which would put pressure on profits. In the end, the customers also bought for less money than expected. “The high volume of pre-orders made for 2022/23 based on completely different economic forecasts and the resulting need to sell through discounts also had a negative impact.” For the current year you have “bought a lot more defensively”.(dpa)