Sales revenues in FY 2010/11 up by 13%, Gerry Weber

28 Feb '12

3 min read

GERRY WEBER International AG confirmed the good preliminary figures for the past financial year 2010/11 and proposed to increase the dividend by 18.2% to EUR 0.65 per share.

The success story of GERRY WEBER International AG continued in the financial year 2010/11, when the company increased its sales revenues by 13.0% to EUR 702.7 million and expanded its EBIT margin from 13.4% to 14.2%. 59.9% of the revenues was generated in Germany and 40.1% abroad. Earnings before interest and taxes increased at an even higher rate than revenues, namely by 19.6% to EUR 99.6 million at the end of the financial year, primarily due to the expansion of the company's own Retail operations and strict cost management.

After deduction of the financial result of EUR -2.0 million (previous year: EUR -3.7 million) and income taxes of EUR 30.6 million, the GERRY WEBER's net income amounted to EUR 67.0 million. This represents an impressive 24.2% increase on the previous year. Earnings per share amounted to EUR 1.48 (previous year: EUR 1.29).

To give the shareholders an appropriate share in the company's excellent performance, the Managing Board and the Supervisory Board will propose a dividend of EUR 0.65 per share to the upcoming Annual General Meeting. The dividend will thus be approx. 18.2% higher than in the previous year. In July 2011, the company had issued free shares on a 1:1 basis and thus given its shareholders an additional share in its performance.

Against the background of the issue of free shares from company funds, the share capital doubled to EUR 45.9 million. An equity ratio of 75.7% (previous year: 64.5%) testifies to the company's exceptionally solid balance sheet structure. Cash flow from operating activities increased by 10.6% to EUR 71.2 million in the past financial year. Accordingly, all investments (EUR 44.4 million) made in the financial year 2010/11 were covered by the company's own funds. Liquid funds rose from EUR 45.9 million to EUR 90.6 million at the end of the financial year 2010/11.

In early February 2012, the GERRY WEBER Group announced the takeover of roughly 200 stores of bankrupt WISSMACH Modefilialen GmbH. Most of the former WISSMACH stores are to be converted primarily into mono-label stores of GERRY WEBER's TAIFUN and SAMOON brands.

In this context, GERRY WEBER International AG has raised its revenues projections for the financial year 2011/12 from EUR 775 million to EUR 795 million. “In addition to the investments required for the conversion of the Wissmach stores into TAIFUN and SAMOON stores, the start-up costs will have a one-time effect on our bottom line. We therefore project an EBIT margin of 14.5% to 14.6% for the current financial year,” said Gerhard Weber, CEO of GERRY WEBER International AG.

“We expect the converted stores to make a contribution of between EUR 45 and 50 million to sales revenues as well as a positive contribution to earnings already in thenext financial year 2012/13.“ Accordingly, the Wissmach takeover will have paid off after only one year.

The takeover of the WISSMACH stores is the next logical step in the GERRY WEBER Group's Retail expansion strategy. In the past financial year 2010/11, the Retail segment contributed EUR 218.0 million or 31.0% to total Group revenues, and this contribution is set to increase in the coming years. With 64 new Houses of GERRY WEBER opened in 2010/11, the company plans to open about 75 new stores in the current financial year - excluding the new stores from the WISSMACH takeover.

GERRY WEBER International AG

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