HORNBACH Baumarkt AG

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. A warm welcome on behalf of the Hornbach Group and the Investor Relations Team for this year's Analyst and Investor Conference in Frankfurt at DZ Bank.

And I would also like to welcome our online participants in the webcast. I would also like to warmly welcome our two CEOs, Mr. Hornbach, the CEO of Hornbach Holding, and Mr. Harsch, CEO of Hornbach Baumarkt and a member of the board of Hornbach Management AG. To begin with, Albrecht Hornbach will talk about the performance of the Hornbach Group. After that, Erich Harsch is going to give us an in-depth insight into Hornbach Baumarkt AG. As always, you will have the possibility to ask questions after the presentation. There will be a roaming microphone in the room, and our online participants will have the possibility of sending us their questions via a chat field. To begin the Q&A round, I will then tell you about the procedure in detail. But before I hand over to the CEOs now, I would like to point out that the conference language in this room is German, and we have provided simultaneous interpretation and an English track for the participants on the webcast. But even if you're listening online, you have the possibility of switching to German. The transcript of this event will be made available on our website in all languages. If you participate in this conference, you agree with this way of data processing. Please also take note of our disclaimer. You can see it here. It applies to both the presentations and the Q&A round. And now it is my pleasure to hand over to Albrecht Hornbach for a first insight. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the Hornbach Group's Analyst and Investor Conference, both at the DZ Bank and remotely at your screens. We are pleased about your interest in the performance of our company, of course. My colleague Erich Harsch and I are going to give you insights into the key performance indicators and main developments of the 2024-25 financial year. Erich Harsch is going to focus on Hornbach Baumarkt AG, whereas my focus will mainly be on Hornbach Holding and the development of our Baustoffunion. At the end of our presentations, we will be happy to take your questions. Ladies and gentlemen, 2024 was characterized by difficult economic framework conditions. Domestic demand in the EU was soft. Germany's gross domestic product declined by 0.2%. The consequences of the Ukraine war and the high cost of energy have affected and still are affecting many industries. Despite the challenges, at Hornbach, we managed to fare very successfully during the 2024-25 fiscal year, which covered the period from March 1st to February 28th. In the following, I will elaborate on three points which are particularly indicative of our success. Likewise, they illustrate the current business situation of our group of companies to the point. Of course, there are more than just these three points. First, in the 2024-25 fiscal year, the Hornbach Group's net sales were at 6.2 billion euros, which is a 0.6% increase compared to the previous year. Our largest subgroup, Hornbach Baumarkt AG, attain net sales in the amount of 5.85 billion euros, which is 1.2% higher than the previous fiscal year. Our DIY division contributes 94% of the group's consolidated sales.

Our Baumarkt division, that is.

The gross margin, too, has improved considerably, which is due to a comparative decline in commodity prices as well as product innovations and positive effects from the product mix sold. At the same time, costs increased in line with expectations. However, the cost increase was disproportionately low compared to the gross margin. Cost drivers included labor cost increases resulting from prior years' inflation, as well as the implementation of projects to facilitate the further development of our company, such as the migration project. to the new SAP system S4 HANA. As a result, we were able to increase our adjusted EBIT to €217 million, that is a 6% growth vis-à-vis the same period of the previous year. In view of rising costs, including the investment in higher wages and salaries for our employees, this is a very satisfactory result indeed, and it is in line with what we forecasted at the beginning of the fiscal year. As you know, the COVID-19 pandemic led to a considerable sales increase across the DIY industry from 2020 onward. At Hornbach, we attained above-average increases of both sales and EBIT. On the one hand, we attribute this development to a change in consumer behavior and increased interest in DIY and home improvement. On the other hand, we attribute it to improvements of internal processes and successful project management. In spite of the war in Ukraine, the high rate of inflation and the burden of increased costs, we were able to maintain and even further improve the higher level of sales and profit brought about by the pandemic. Against this backdrop, the slight upward trend in the year-end review is very remarkable, building on an already high level. It should be noted that Hohenbach Baumarkt AG has been performing above the industry average, which was reported to have dropped by 1.5% in Germany in 2024. Hornbach Baustoff Union shows a somewhat different picture. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, its net sales was at 357 million euros. This means that Baustoff Union reports a 6.2% drop in sales. It accounts for 6 percent of the overall sales figure. Baustoff Union operates 37 outlets in southwestern Germany and two in France, close to the border. Its performance reflects the continued weakness of the German construction industry, as well as the impact of inflation, the recession in Germany, and the high interest rate levels of the past years. For both commercial developers and individual homeowners, financing major refurbishment measures or a new build is a massive financial burden. However, we do see positive indicators for the mid- and long-term. Real wages have gone up, interest rates are going down, and inflation is subsiding. In addition, we appreciate the infrastructure fund announced by the German government. to the second aspect particularly indicative of our success in the 2024-25 fiscal year. It's the sales per square meter of sales floor. We continue leading the market here, being way ahead of the market development. In the 2024-25 fiscal year, Sales per square metre was at 2.849 euros, which is 1% above the high prior year figure. Compared to 2019-20, prior to the COVID pandemic, net sales per square metre has increased by 463%. The above-average growth in recent years underlines the strength of our sales floors, which we use in the best possible way.

An outstanding result.

The third point indicative of the fiscal year's success is market share. The continuous growth of our market shares clearly proves Hornbach's strong position in the industry and characterizes our long-term success. In the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic and Switzerland, we have been able to increase our market shares again. In Austria, they remained at a high level. The Netherlands at 28.1% and the Czech Republic at 37.7% are at the top, as usual. We have observed a real leap here compared to 2019. Austria and Germany follow at 17.3% and 15.2% respectively. For the sake of complete let me state that we do not gather market share data for any of our other national subsidiaries. As you know, at Hornbach, we see ourselves as an interconnected retailer. We offer our products, our services and relevant information wherever our customers are. In all of our nine countries, We have online stores and apps. Most of our stores have pick-up points for click-and-collect purchases. In some places, they are available outside store opening hours. E-commerce and related information possibilities are a key pillar of our company's success. E-commerce sales are at 720 million euros. reflecting a slight decrease by 1.7 percent compared to the previous year. However, we need to put this development into perspective. Click and Collect performed positively in the 2024-25 fiscal year, showing a slight uptick. And we know that customers use online shops and apps as a source of information and advice. This is where they plan projects and create purchase lists. Later on, They collect their purchase at the store. We work constantly to optimize interconnection. We want to give our customers the best of both worlds. The actual e-commerce share in value creation cannot therefore be measured by the sales figure alone. We consciously focus on high availability in project volumes. Our specialist advisors offer the best possible advice and point out things that are key to the success of the project, even though the customer might not even have thought of them before.

Customers highly appreciate this.

Strong employee commitment is what makes Hornbach so successful. Each and every one has contributed to our success with their vigor and energy. As at February 28, 2025, The Hohenbach Group has 25,329 employees. This is a slight increase by 2.2% compared to the previous year's figure, mainly driven by the expansion strategy of the DIY division. I would like to express my appreciation for our colleagues' performance and I would like to say a big thank you. The 2024-25 fiscal year saw a change on the management board. Our previous CFO, Karin Dohm, opened a new chapter in her career. Following a successful selection process, we are glad to welcome a new CFO to both Hohenbach Management AG and Hohenbach Baumarkt AG as from August 15th, 2025. Dr. Joanna Kowalska is going to be responsible for the areas of finance, tax, group controlling, risk management, internal audit, legal compliance, and investor relations. She has longstanding international experience in the DIY sector, and we are convinced that Dr. Kowalska will contribute greatly to our group. Ladies and gentlemen, I am now going to take a look at our balance sheet structure. The balance sheet total amounted to 4.6 billion euros as at February 28, 2025. Our equity ratio amounts to a strong 44.1%. This gives us headroom for further development. The slight increase in inventories is due to the early preparation for the spring season. We are filling our inventories in order to have sufficient quantities of goods ready for our customers at the beginning of the spring season. The net debt to EBITDA ratio is at 2.6, which is but slightly higher than in the previous year and within the limits of normal fluctuations. we were able to further reduce our financial debt, excluding leasing debt, by 26 million euros. Cash flows, too, are very satisfactory. Cash flow from operating activities was at 318 million euros. The decrease compared to the previous year is due to changes in working capital. The funds from operations or operating result went up by 23 million euros over the previous year. In the 2024-25 financial year, we invested a total of 184 million euros in the construction of new stores, refurbishment measures, as well as equipment and IT. If we subtract net investment, financial activities, and the payment of dividends, we arrive at a free cash flow of 108 million euros. Let me summarize. We have a strong financial and asset structure. Our financial stability is an important guarantor of the sustainability of our group, and it is attractive for investors.

Our dividend approach is attractive, too.

Ever since we went public in 1987, we have been distributing dividends year after year. Each year's dividend is at least at the previous year's level. This shows our respect for our investors. For the 2024-25 financial year, we will propose a dividend of 2.40 euros per share to Hornbach Holdings AGM. Our target payout ratio is therefore at 27 percent. We can do this because we are financially strong, we are convinced of our business model, and we grow reliably and continuously. In the countries of our business activity, we are well positioned and we are pursuing strategies to further strengthen our position. We keep investing at a consistently high level, including in new technologies such as artificial intelligence. In the field of corporate social responsibility, we keep pursuing our targets and related strategy independently of short-term political trends. because it is a matter of attitude. This is what we, as a listed family-run company, are all about. In an environment of macroeconomic and political volatility, and based on our analyses and observations, we anticipate total net sales in the current fiscal year, 2025-26, to be at the level of the previous year's figure or slightly higher. With a view to adjusted EBIT, we anticipate this figure to be at the level of the previous year's period in view of personnel cost increases which will take full effect for the first time this year. Due to the difficult market environment, we decided to be cautious about our guidance, even though the spring season has been very favorable so far. We cannot, however, foresee how political and economic developments at the European and global levels will impact us, our supply chains, and the consumer and investment sentiment of our customers. In my statement, I have made clear, based on various points, that in the 2024-25 financial year we have seen a slight upward trend, which is quite remarkable in view of the high sales and EBIT levels attained. One thing is clear. We cannot rest on our laurels. We need to move forward with full focus and power, because people rely on us. Thank you very much for your attention. I will now hand over to Mr. Harsh

Thank you very much, Mr. Hornbach, for your presentation. Ladies and gentlemen, I would also like to welcome you most cordially to our conference here. Thank you very much for your interest in the development of Hornbach Baumarkt AG as well. In 2024, a lot happened in global politics. The challenges were and still are quite complex. However, as a company, you have to deal with challenges. And we at Hornbach Baumarkt AG have managed this well, as I would like to show you with the following key facts. Every day, hundreds of thousands of people across Europe rely on our willingness to perform. We are working to ensure that everyone can implement their own DIY projects to make their home, garden or balcony beautiful. One key indicator of our relevance as a retailer is customer footfall. Customer footfall grew by 1.2% in the 2024-25 financial year. Despite weak domestic demand in the European Union, the average ticket remained stable overall and in the second half of the financial year developed even slightly positively. In view of this development, we expect sales at Hornbach Baumarkt AG to increase by 1.2% across Europe to 5.85 billion euros in the 2024-25 financial year. On a like-for-like basis, Baumarkt AG's sales growth across Europe amounts to 1.1%. We are therefore performing significantly better than the industry as a whole on average, which is very pleasing. The sales growth has been driven by our stores in the European national companies in particular, where we recorded an increase of 2.4%. In Germany, we generated sales in 2024-25 at almost the same high level as in the same period of the previous year. The decline was just 0.1%. This is understandable because we are still not doing well in Germany in macroeconomic terms, and there's still a general feeling of uncertainty. Of course, we also want to achieve the strongest possible growth in our home country, although there's a lot of competition in Germany. In view of the adjusted decline in sales of minus 1% that the industry association BHB announced for Germany for 2024, we can consider our development to be very positive indeed. Because also with this slight decrease in Germany, we have managed to increase our market share. Growth impetus will also result from our expansion strategy. At the end of February 25, we opened a store in Nuremberg in southern Germany. The response of customers has been extremely positive. The addition of a drive-in for building materials and bulky products in particular is proving very popular and offers new opportunities in the professional customer business in particular for our customers in the area of Nuremberg. At the end of March, we opened another store in Duisburg in the Ruhr metropolitan area in Germany. And in the next few months, there will be three more store openings in this calendar year, one in Eisenstadt, in my home country in Austria, and two in Romania, in Bucharest and Timisoara. As you can see, we will continue to invest heavily in our expansion and will open DIY superstores and garden centers with sales areas of more than 15,000 square meters unweighted. We still see a lot of potential here in Germany. For example, in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, in the eastern part of Germany, where we are not represented at all as yet, as well as throughout Europe, where there are still many empty spaces on the map that we would like to cover, although it's not always all that easy to develop new locations. In the Netherlands, our colleagues have developed concepts to open stores with sales areas of 12,000 square meters or more. Now, on average, the stores in the Netherlands are bigger. And with this slightly smaller format, we can open stores in many other cities and regions in the Netherlands in the medium to long term. So in areas where there are not so many people, but where it still makes sense to open the store. So we're not talking about small DIY stores. They're still pretty big. And we need the big spaces, of course, to be able to have sufficient products also for our commercial clients in particular available. The plans of our colleagues in the Netherlands are very ambitious. It must be recognized that we have repeatedly exceeded our plans in the Netherlands in recent years. We've got an exceptionally dynamic development in the Netherlands and being the market leader for large format DIY stores and garden centers, we are very well positioned indeed and we are very popular in the Netherlands as independent studies have shown. This popularity and our sales growth have largely been achieved thanks to the commitment of our colleagues, not just in the Netherlands but in all national entities. And therefore, I would like to also, as Albrecht Hornbach already did, I would like to thank all our colleagues for what they have achieved, all colleagues of Baumarkt AG. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of our employees who've made all of this possible. Let's now talk about the EBIT. Together in the Baumarkt subgroup, we generated an adjusted EBIT of 234 million euros in the past financial year. This is an increase of 10 percent compared to the 2023-24 financial year. This is a really fantastic achievement which deserves a great deal of respect. The positive development in EBIT can be attributed to a higher gross profit with lower raw material prices on the one hand and positive effects from changes to our product range. especially also as far as newly listed products are concerned, more recent products which have been received very well in the market. To put this into context, I would like to emphasize that we maintained our permanent low price guarantee in the 2024-25 financial year and will continue to do so in the future. It is our claim to be the most favorably priced supplier in DIY retail. At the same time, this means that we have to be continuously focusing on efficiency. The promise to be the most favorably priced provider and to do without short-term discount campaigns contributes significantly to Hohenbach's popularity. Our claim is that customers can purchase at very convenient prices all of the time and not just during discount seasons. This is our contribution as a company to stability and continuity in people's everyday lives. Alongside sales figures, earnings, and customer footfall, there's another indicator of the attractiveness of our company, and this is the number of job applicants, which is a very exciting topic. For decades, Hornbach has been a guarantor of safe jobs. Long-term planning, stability, and a continuous willingness to invest and expand are the pillars of our company's success. In 2024, the number of applications for our stores in Germany almost doubled. In the first few months of this year, 2025, we have once again seen a double digit percentage increase. This trend is partly influenced by numerous problems in other industries of course but it still shows that we as a company offer attractive framework conditions and therefore excellent workplaces which are very strong in retail as an industry. In addition to a decent salary and many additional benefits, some of which are voluntary, our customized working time model that you've probably heard about is very popular in Germany. We are trying to offer the best possible working conditions to our employees in our stores. so that our employees can also align their working hours if need be to any situations at home. At the beginning of the new financial year, on the 1st of March 2025, we had a new Manager Peter Ebendorfer took over the management of our national company in Austria. He succeeds Marek Thiemel, who's left Hohenbach for personal reasons after 25 years. Peter Ebendorfer has been with Hohenbach for 15 years. He's Austrian. We're very pleased to have gained such an experienced colleague for the important role of country managing director. Albrecht Hornbach has already mentioned that we will be welcoming a new CFO, Dr. Joanna Kowalska, in the middle of August, as we already heard earlier on. And I'm really looking forward to working with her. We've already talked to her, and we're really excited to welcome her on board and to be able to work with her. And certainly, there will be a very close cooperation. I would now like to take a look at other important strategic areas. Now, firstly, the question of the expansion of our product portfolio, thanks to our marketplace online. Last year, we reported to you that we had expanded our online shop to include a marketplace. The offering is primarily aimed at project and commercial customers with special requirements. the 2024-25 financial year, we took an important step forward. There are now well over 300,000 products sold by Hornbach online, and around 150,000 products are available via the Hornbach marketplace. This is a great thing for customers. It is the result of a very cooperative partnership with the industry, which we really appreciate. This partnership is further proof of how attractive we are as a company, not just for people working for us or for job applicants, but also for all of our partners. And there's a very successful cooperation with all of these partners. We recorded more than 320 million visits to our online shops across Europe in the past financial year. 4.1 million customers have a Hornbach customer account. So again, this is a very important area for our strategic topic of interconnected retailing. The second topic I would like to talk about relates the professional and commercial customers and other services we offer. We are indeed very popular with professional and commercial customers. Commercial customers are very important to us. As part of the opening of the stores in Germany, in Nuremberg and Duisburg, we organize special events for commercial customers with great success. At such events, customers have the opportunity to network directly with their individual account manager. And this, of course, then also lays the foundation for an excellent working relationship. Our account managers are available to commercial customers in person in numerous ways, for example, directly also via WhatsApp if the customer wants this. And our account managers can certainly offer excellent solutions for the vast majority of requirements. We also want to offer good solutions to customers who do not want to implement their projects themselves or who need support. At the end of 2023, Seniovo, the market leader for barrier-free bathroom conversions, became part of our group of companies. In just a few months, our colleagues have been able to significantly expand our range of offers and bring them to the market. Around 70% of our stores in Germany currently already offer bathroom refurbishments and renovations. Depending on the customer's wishes, Senovo and our colleagues provide on-site advice on low-barrier or barrier-free bathroom refurbishments. If the customer has a recognized degree of care, state subsidies can be applied for directly and quickly through Senovo. And many clients are very grateful for that because this is, of course, very complicated to apply for those state subsidies. In the area of accessibility, we see a lot of potential as a company. Throughout Europe, there's a high need for refurbishment in buildings, and the population is getting older and older, and everyone wants to continue living at home. And indeed, sometimes people have no other choice because places in care homes are in high demand. So it's certainly a very important future field of business for us. So let me summarize. If you consider the overall economic situation in Germany and Europe as a whole, it is clear that we had a successful financial year. The Hornbach Group achieved a very good operating result. We are continuously investing in new stores as well as in our existing locations, in technology and in the further development of our services. Increased customer footfall shows that people enjoy shopping in our stores. The significant increase in the number of job applicants shows that we offer attractive jobs. I would like to conclude my remarks with a quote from the Austrian poet and writer Ernst Jandl. It reads, There are no limits to thinking. You can think as long and as far as you want. End of quote. Such a principle is essential for a company in today's world we believe especially now when so much is changing. You can only ever shape things in the present. But if you want to know how you can still be attractive to your customers in the future then you have to always ask yourselves what will customers expect from me in the future. If we look to the future with great anticipation, and that's very important to always be confident, excited, and to look to the future with great anticipation. So if you look to the future with great anticipation and set no limits to our thinking, if we treat each other with respect and if we respect each other's needs, if we endeavor to be a good host to speak to our clients, then we will make progress and continue to grow. I am very positive. Also, thanks to the very successful spring, as Albrecht Hombach already mentioned, that we've already had. And with that, let me thank you for your attention. We're now looking forward to your questions. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for guiding us through our past business year and for giving us an outlook. Now, let us start by taking questions in the room. My colleagues are walking about with microphones in their hands. Please share your name and where you come from so everybody, including the listeners on the webcast, know who is asking the question. And feel free to ask any questions you have in either English or German on the webcast by typing your question into the relevant field. I am going to read them out for you here. Now let's get started with the first question. My name is Volker Bosse from Baader Bank. Thank you so much for the presentation and the information you shared. I have three questions. In addition to selling home improvement products, What becomes more important now is the selling of trade and craft services. What is the share of sales of trade and craftspeople's professional services in your overall sales? Second, thank you for presenting Senovo to us. As far as I remember, it was one of the first acquisitions you did. So I'm sure you expect cross-selling activities. You showed the integration in the Baumarkt subgroup. So what about the sales expectations you connected with this acquisition? Were they fulfilled and did they encourage you to further look out for acquisition targets, maybe acquiring trade services companies? My third question is about the consolidation in the DIY industry. Well, there have been quite some news in the press So what is your view on the industry, the need for consolidation and the extent to which you may possibly play an active role in such consolidation? Well, we can actually share the answer to these questions. Okay, would you please take a lead? Well, as far as the professional tradespeople services are concerned, this is a well-communicated share of our offering in the stores. And actually, I am surprised time and again that we really have to put a lot of work into making the availability of such services generally known. We actually sped this up in recent years. It used to be at a very low level, 1 to 2 percent, but now we have a colleague who has really committed himself dynamically to promoting this service and its availability, and we are now... On a good track, we see double-digit percentage growth in this area. But, of course, compared to the overall sales figure, it is a rather low share. And this, of course, related to the Baumarkt sales figure and with a focus on Germany. Did you respond to my question about Senovo? No, not yet. You asked about whether our expectations had been met. Well, we do have a firm conviction and belief in this segment. Of course, we did have business plans and the like, but our expectations were not very high-flying. Of course, you have to work your way into collaborating with such a startup, and it's not so easy in some respects, but we are on a good track now. Several things had to be smoothed out in the process so we can really have a smooth offering, but we did good work on this and I think we are making good headway. With a few to Senovo, there were certain questions as to the implementation. You have to take people along, obviously. And there were some capacity bottlenecks here because the demand was really high. But we are on a good track. And we are not specifically planning to perform more acquisitions at this point. You asked about additional service offerings to possibly be acquired. Well, as soon as we have a specific project in mind, we will communicate it if applicable. Your third question was about consolidation of the industry. I think this question was triggered by the latest news in the press that seemed to have been around. I cannot remember when I was asked this question for the first time. I think it was 20 years ago, but it always seems to be up to date. A lot has been going on in terms of consolidation in Germany. there are always companies at the edge and you can read about them yes but it is not my responsibility to make any judgments about our competitors there is a certain pressure around yes the industry as a whole has gained a lot as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic but not all the players in the market managed to maintain the higher level attained and of course high cost has come along with the gains and I am not going to mention any names now you know from the press who might be at discussion here. I think I cannot comment anymore on this. Thank you very much. My name is Kay Böckel from the Z Bank. Congratulations on your excellent figures in the previous fiscal year. I would now ask Mr. Hornbach to give us some more details on the outlook. You said the EBIT was expected roughly at the level of the previous year. Analysts had forecasted a higher result, and you said you saw a favorable spring season or a spring business. What about the customers' project developments? Can you comment on these? And if this momentum could be maintained, I suppose your EBIT would be better than the previous year's EBIT, wouldn't it? That's what my assumption would be. So that's why I'm asking about your current view of developments. Well, it is generally known that we tend to be on the cautious side as far as forecasts and guidance are concerned. You may have expected as much this time as well. But we have added that we have had a good start into the spring season. Our first quarter ends end of May, as does the spring season. So we have had a good start into the new year. And you said, well, if we maintain this momentum, of course, if you could always maintain a momentum in a linear fashion, that would be nice. We could have given a different guidance then. But as you know, there are so many imponderabilities. And this is why we said, let's be conservative about our guidance, even though our start into the business year has been a good one. In spring, we've seen good customer footfall figures. The weather has been fine this spring season. Now everybody is waiting for rain to set in, and that will, of course, play an important role for the further course of the year. I don't think you wanted to know much more about the spring season. The spring has been consistently good, yes, but we cannot say whether this trend is going to be upheld throughout the rest of the year. There are so many fluctuations and ups and downs that you cannot predict. There is a question being asked of Mike. The spring projects, too, are running well. Spring projects are typically related to the garden, so they are highly specific projects, and business has been good throughout in this respect. Thank you very much. Another question at the front.

Thank you.

Ralf Marionik in the PrivatBank, you said that in the ongoing business year you wanted to open four more stores. Can you give us an outlook into 2026? Will there be more new store openings? And I have another question, a question of principle. Why is Hornbach performing better than your competition? What's the secret? Is it your highly motivated staff? Does it have to do with your product range? Maybe you can give us some more insight into this. And a third question. Two months ago, a new DIY store in Duisburg opened. It can be characterized as a flagship store candidate. It's Duisburg, right? So maybe you can give us an update on the first phase of sales in terms of footfall, in terms of visitor numbers, et cetera. How satisfied are you? Well, I can answer all three of these questions, or maybe we can share them between you. Between us. You asked about new stores for 2026. There will be a similar trend. We have some more stores in the pipeline. We are going to share information about them once the opening dates are sufficiently specific. But I think the number of new store openings will be similar to 2025. Why does Hornbach perform better than the competition? I think. retail is the tale. It's such a wealth of aspects. Sales figures are your customers' applause. And if customers prefer going to Hornbach, many factors play a role. I do believe that our special employee culture and the high employee loyalty create an atmosphere that people like. And actually, personal friends of mine have told me stories, too, that And after they visited Hornbach. But of course, it's always about competition at the local scale. You know, you cannot generalize. So it seems we have many sites, many stores where we have special success factors, such as better local situation, better prices, more competent colleagues. Possibilities such as the drive-in that I mentioned before. And sometimes, if you look at the local competition level, very often the largest store beats the smallest store. And sometimes we have sites where our preconditions are rather inferior to those of the competition. Nevertheless, we are pretty successful. So I think the employee and collaboration culture, as well as the support services, are key factors in addition to Those factors that people don't like to mention so much, but price is really relevant. So our everyday low price policy and the price guarantee are key contributing factors. People know that they can buy at HORNBACH whenever they want and at a favorable price. Next, Duisburg. The remarkable thing about Duisburg is, we call it Duisburg II, by the way. Duisburg II took off very well. And Duisburg I is at the other end of the city, has observed positive repercussions from that store opening, so no cannibalization effects. That was really surprising to me as well. In Nuremberg, the situation was a little different. In Nuremberg, we closed down a smaller, less comfortable store, and we tore it down, and we built it all anew, and we noticed that the surrounding stores in Fürth and Schwabach that had benefited from the closing down and demolition from the original store lost more than the second Hornbach store in Duisburg as a result of the opening of the new store. So these are very specific factors that kick in here. But all in all, we are very pleased with both new stores and their opening successes. Another question. Christoph Eckert from Eckert Mittelstand Invest. I have one question concerning the adjusted EBIT abroad. I saw that it slightly declined, even though the sales figures were better than in Germany. I assume the gross margin has gone up, too. Maybe you can give us a reason why.

Well, the main reason is

that EBIT development often depends on country-specific situations such as the wage and salary developments. And across our various countries, there have been heterogeneous developments, even though they were pretty dynamic everywhere. And then the question is, how much investment is going on in a specific country. I told you that in the Netherlands there are so many future-looking concepts being worked on now. We try to get the most out of our very strong market leadership position, adding new concepts. And if I have a major capex, This has a negative impact on my EBIT today, but tomorrow it will hopefully pay off. So these are special effects. They vary from country to country, and it doesn't make sense to take a bird's-eye view across all the countries. Instead, you have to look at the specific situation as per country, and there are differences between countries.

Especially if you open many new markets you know this in retail that if you've got many many new stores at the beginning this will be negative for your earnings because you have to invest a lot up front you have to hire staff before you even make any sales so the pre-opening costs and where there's a lot of dynamic development in such a phase of investment possibly you might even see a decline in your operating profit. But hopefully then going forward you will be reaping the benefits later on. The next question here from the room. Let's see. I've got a question regarding the gross margin. In the annual report, you said that the gross margin will stay stable. What are the most important influencing factors on your gross profit, and why are you so confident? And then another question regarding the spring projects. You said that spring was very good. If you gave us a couple of details, are customers implementing bigger projects again? What is the comparison over the prior year? And last question regarding online sales. This year, you're expecting online sales to grow. Could you tell us why you believe that yet another growth is possible in online sales this year? Okay, let me start with the last question, online sales. I always say this at this point. I mean, it is a deceptive split between online and stationary because we know that two thirds of our customers seek information online. But whether they then push some button online to buy or whether they want to go to a store to see the colors up to the customer during COVID-19, they couldn't go to a store, which is why, of course, then online sales were exceptionally high. Today, the situation is the following. Since the end of the last fiscal year and also in the first months of this year, we've seen an inversion in the trend. Online suffered in its representation compared to customary habits that developed during COVID-19. And because, of course, online share was bombastic, was huge because you couldn't shop anywhere in a store. And now we've noticed that there's a growth again. Why this is in detail? Well, of course, there's various reasons. The marketplace is one reason. I told you quite how many articles we've got in our assortment in our portfolio, and that's enhanced attractiveness with our customers. There's been a very good development in that respect. So to answer your question why we are positive, because we're already seeing the trend now. That's my answer to your question in simple terms. Now, as far as projects of customers are concerned, At the end of the last fiscal year, now in the beginning of this fiscal year, there's been a certain change in the product range in the following sense. Classical construction products such as wood or construction materials have had a more positive development. So it seems that customers are implementing smaller or medium-sized projects again. And this has led to these products being sold more. People seem to be excited about implementing projects, but it's always an up and down. You know, sometimes the need goes down, but then you can see that the need for these projects picks up again. And also during our speech, we mentioned that in Germany, but also outside of Germany, in Romania, for example, if you see quite how big the refurbishment and renovation need is, we are very confident that this project activity will be a key priority for our business. and will have a further positive development indeed. Did you want to comment on the gross profit at all? Sure. Now, the gross profit, I mean, that's the percentage. What is more important to us is not so much the gross profit margin, but the gross profit as such. And it might well be that with the lower margins, your gross profit is higher. So I wanted to say this up front. Apart from this, of course, the gross profit margin is influenced by procurement prices. Not a lot has happened there. We've left the inflation times behind us. That's been very difficult for our purchasing department. And it also depends on the sales prices. We are the price leader. We are the price leader. This is not just our claim. We are the price leader and our price leaders follow the market. So we don't have a lot of leeway. And we will always maintain that we will not, you know, do without our price leadership. We've invested a lot into this. The performance of our procurement also shows quite how innovative our assortments are. We've brought in new assortments and old products leave the assortment, the product range. So this is an attrition which is high, way above 10%, up to 20% new products. With new assortments, you can attract more customers. You've got a higher margin and your sales go up. So this is very important also to develop your gross profit margin indeed. So these are the influencing factors for sure. Are there currently any other questions here in the room? Otherwise, I would check the three questions we've received online. If not, we can, of course, give you the microphone later on. One question was asked by Joachim Prokosch. Mr. Prokosch has asked whether a squeeze out of Hornbach Let me take this question. It's a brief question. My answer can be brief as well. No. The answer is no. No squeeze out of the share is planned. Let me elaborate a little bit. With the delisting, we've achieved all of the goals we wanted to achieve. So on the one hand, we've now got a very clear focus of our capital markets on just one share, which is the share of Hornbach Holding, which is listed in Frankfurt. The other one isn't listed here anymore. With the delisting, at the same time, our share in the Hornbach Baumarkt was increased, which is great because that's the main asset we have. And thirdly... The share was increased to 95% now, our shareholding. So we could do a squeeze-out at some point or other when we wanted to. At this point in time, it's not there, which is why we haven't planned a squeeze-out at all. The next question that we've received online is the following. The next question was asked by Duarte Multa. He asks or says, first of all, thank you very much for the presentation. And he sends his congratulations to another strong year. And he would like to know whether considering the high basis of the first quarter of the prior year, you could give an indication regarding the first quarter. I suppose that we've already heard a lot of comments now in the Q&A regarding this. So I think this question has already been answered. Next question is, can we assume that with the first quarter, it will be comparable with the first quarter 24, 25? Okay, I'll take those questions. We've already communicated that we've had a very good start into the new fiscal year, so in the first quarter of this year. This relates, of course, also to the comparison over the prior year. The prior year was a strong year. That's a fact. And still, we grew again in Q4. We are very pleased about this. And therefore, you can already derive some positive news from that. And my answer is yes. Our working capital in Q4 increased. As a result, we've had a very good start into the spring. And we're very happy that we did so. And this is also reflected in the very positive development at the beginning of the current business year. Exactly. And that's the continuation of the question, which is the topic of inventories of stock. Could you comment on the increase in inventories in Q4 and what the impact is on the expected demand? Well, I think I've answered this question, haven't I? Okay, then Duarte Morta's questions have been answered, I suppose. Duarte, if you wanted to ask another question, feel free to write in the chat. If not, let's go back to the room here and see whether anybody's got a question here. Two more people are raising their hands here. You're very welcome. Thank you very much. Die Z-Bank, Thomas Maul is my name. Sorry if I talk about the Handelsblatt article. There seem to be certain people in the market who think that the DIY trend might weaken. Can you comment on that briefly, please? What is your view regarding this? The younger generation, are they really still so interested in DIY? Do they really feel eager to do DIY odd jobs around the house, those younger guys in our society? Well, there were articles published, one in the Handelsblatt and other articles elsewhere around problems in the industry. All I can say is the following. If we take a look The big change that's happened during COVID-19 in the industry, we must never forget this. If we take those stores that we had even before COVID-19, the old net selling space, and if we take a look at what sort of sales we're making on those, there's a plus of more than 20% sales on the old net selling space. And in our record COVID-19 times, we didn't make a lot more, maybe 22% or 23%. I can't remember exactly right now. So there's been a slight decrease. But all in all, we're at the record level. And there's a sideways development in terms of sales in our industry in Germany, in our company, this is. I know that with other competitors, They didn't stay at quite the same level as during COVID-19. They've had slight decreases. But still, even the competition, that's my assumption, are still making higher sales compared to before COVID-19. How they're dealing with higher costs is another matter. But still, this hypothesis that there's less traffic in DIY stores, that consumers don't shop there anymore and that big stores suffer from a footfall. I don't know who wrote this. This must be written by somebody who hasn't visited stores in Germany for a long time. I don't know. Thank you. Volker Bosse has another question. Yes, Baader Bank. Volker Bosse is my name. Regarding the online sales, the online sales is conducted with a multi-channel approach. You're saying customers frequently seek information online, buy in the store, buy So my question is, where do you see a potential? Where could you improve further? What is a multichannel approach in a perfect world? It can't always be perfect, and the world keeps changing. But where do you see room for improvement? Where are you still trying to improve your online presence? Where do you see the potential in that respect? Well, first of all, you have to always assume that you can always improve in life. Always. So if you carry on, just like in the past, this won't be sufficient. You always have to try to always continuously improve. So there's still loads of possibility. For example, we've got our wood configurator, where we can offer much more comfortable solutions to customers to make it easier for them to do project planning and project execution. And there are a wealth of examples which are very detailed, where we can improve many of the nitty-gritty details in this connection of interconnected retailing. It's not just about online e-commerce or website or stationery. It's about the holistic approach, how the brand Hornbach is perceived by customers all the way through to our communication. Everybody knows our advertising, but this won't be enough anymore either. You have to be always... available also in social media these days, the new communication channels. You need to be active there, because you also asked about the younger generation. Of course, we're present there as well, and we can improve there in that respect and achieve a better connection with the younger generation and present our performance much better online, on social media, for example. And we've got a lot of things happening there.

Thank you so much. And there is a follow-up question by Tobias Rolle. Mr. Rolle would like to know, Hornbach Baumarkt is still being listed at the stock exchange. The double structure with two AGMs, two annual reports, et cetera, is incomprehensible, and it ties up too much management capacity. Why don't you simplify this? Well, everything has been said about this. Everything has been said. Nothing to add. Okay, I think we are done with all the questions. I cannot see anyone else requesting the floor. Thank you very much for your interest. In the next weeks and months, there will be several capital market events where we would be more than happy to welcome you. It would be great to continue our contact meeting face-to-face. And if you have any follow-up questions, please turn to us. The investor relations team will be happy to help you. Enjoy the rest of the day. Thank you for participating in this meeting, either online or on site. Thank you very much and goodbye.