Hornbach Q1 Report 2023

 

The inflow of funds from operating activities fell from € 176.5 million in the previous year’s quarter to € 30.6 million in Q1 2023/24. The change in working capital resulted in an outflow of € 98.5 million (2022/23: plus € 11.2 million), which mainly resulted from liabilities to suppliers being reduced. Funds from operations decreased from € 164.4 million to € 129.1 million. The outflow of funds for investing activities amounted to € 48.3 million (2022/23: € 49.2 million). This figure includes gross capital expenditure of € 51.1 million (2022/23: € 52.3 million). At € 29.4 million, around 58% of capital expenditure involved land and buildings (2022/23: € 37.4 million), while the remainder was channeled into plant and office equipment at new and existing stores (€ 20.1 million) and into intangible assets, mainly software (€ 1.6 million).

Gross profit decreased by 3.9% to € 596.0 million in Q1 2023/24 (2022/23: € 620.1 million). At 33.6%, the gross margin fell short of the previous year’s figure (34.2%). This reduction in the gross margin [Brief Glossary on Page 7] was mainly attributable to higher procurement prices and transport costs, factors which could not be fully offset by adjusting retail prices.