Belgium down 3.5 %, other foreign markets have grown
Hema suffered a 14.8 million euro net loss, which the company attributes to one-off costs, like store renovations and a restructuring program at its main office. Net turnover dropped 3.4 % to 271.1 million euro, while like-for-like turnover even dropped 6.8 %.
“Hema’s performance is in line with the Dutch retail market, which shows no sign of improvement. Consumer trust has shown a slight improvement, but this has not been transformed into an increased number of Dutch sales”, CEO Ronald van Zetten said in a press release.
Hema’s foreign performance was markedly better: its French like-for-like turnover grew 6.1 % while German turnover grew 1.7 %. British and Spanish numbers were not revealed, but signs were “very positive”. Belgium was the exception: turnover dropped 3.5 % due to the very mild weather.
