The Fielmann optician chain has lowered its earnings forecast for the current year. The company announced on Wednesday in Hamburg that high inflation and the effects of the war in Ukraine were having an increasing impact on consumer behavior across Europe. The corona pandemic continues to affect business. Fielmann therefore now expects earnings before taxes to be more than 160 million euros, after previously announced more than 190 million euros. So far, analysts have had 192.4 million euros on the slip.
Group sales are expected to be around EUR 1.75 billion. So far, the optician group had only promised a little more with around 1.8 billion euros.
According to preliminary figures for the third quarter, group sales increased slightly from around 461 million to around 463 million euros. The market environment was particularly tense in Germany, it said. Earnings before taxes fell from EUR 85.4 million to around EUR 52 million. Fielmann justified the decline in earnings with higher salaries for employees, among other things. The share, which is listed in the SDax, lost almost nine percent after the figures became known.
The interim report is to be published on November 10th. (dpa)