The downsized Hamburg trading group Otto Group almost doubled its profits in the most recent financial year. Sales, on the other hand, declined, as can be seen from the annual report. CEO Petra Scharner-Wolff spoke of a successful financial year given the weak consumer sentiment.
The main reason for the decline in sales was the sale of the group subsidiary About You to competitor Zalando, which was completed in July 2025. Otto and Zalando are the domestic online retailers with the highest sales in Germany. The Otto clothing brand Bonprix also performed rather weakly, suffering from clouded consumer sentiment and increasing competition.
Annual sales fall by around seven percent
Sales fell by around 7.4 percent to 13.8 billion euros. Earnings before interest and taxes rose from 276 to 641 million euros. After taxes, 312 million euros remained.
Scharner-Wolff explained the higher profit with the growth of the otto.de platform, the result of the profitable financial services provider Eos and cost savings. In the platform business, Otto earns in a similar way to Amazon from sales and from retailers who use the platform and advertise goods. The financial service provider Eos, which has been criticized by consumer advocates, enforces demands internationally.
The Otto Group’s financial year ended at the end of February. Scharner-Wolff took over the management of the group in March of last year, i.e. at the beginning of the financial year.