DGAP-News

Leifheit Aktiengesellschaft: Leifheit remains on course - Seite 2

Turnover in Brand Business, which the Leifheit and Soehnle brands are managed under, decreased in the first quarter by 4.6% to EUR 52.7 million due to the high basis of comparison from 2016. In the first three months of 2016, which was the strongest quarter of the previous year, Brand Business grew by 11.6%. It included turnover from special offers that are planned for subsequent quarters in the current financial year. Turnover in the cleaning and laundry care product categories remained largely stable. However, Leifheit faced year-on-year declines in the kitchen goods and wellbeing (Soehnle) product categories.

Turnover in the considerably smaller Volume Business segment, which is clearly geared towards profitability, grew by 3.0% to EUR 9.8 million. Special offers helped turnover in Germany in particular to expand considerably. Turnover from Herby laundry care products in France developed very positively in the quarter under review, while Birambeau was unable to continue building on the exceptionally strong performance from the previous year, as expected. As a result, turnover in France was down slightly overall in the first three months. In contrast, project business in the US experienced largely stable development.

The Leifheit Group reported EBIT for the first quarter of EUR 5.1 million (EUR 6.5 million). The EUR 1.4 million decrease was due largely to a lack of contribution margins from lower turnover. This was compounded by comparatively higher advertising costs in Brand Business. After reaching 10.0% in the first quarter of the previous year, the EBIT margin stood at 8.2%, putting it above the long-term minimum target of 8%. Less taxes, this equalled a net result for the period of EUR 3.4 million (EUR 4.3 million).

"The positive development in our focus markets of Germany, Eastern Europe and e-commerce proves once more that, despite the challenging basis of comparison from 2016, we remain on course with the systematic implementation of our 'Leifheit 2020' strategy and the continuous expansion of our product portfolio," says Thomas Radke, Chairman of the Board of Management of Leifheit AG. "Our primary objectives remain sustainable, organic turnover growth, a high level of efficiency in our value chain and the ongoing improvement of our operating result, as seen in the confirmation of our annual forecast," Radke adds.