Dutch store chain Hema managed a 5.8 % turnover increase in its broken fiscal year 2015, compared to the year before. Hema’s like-for-like turnover also grew in 2015, by 3.2 %.
Biggest growth in France
Thanks to the increase, Hema’s 2015 turnover reached 1.14 billion euro . Dutch turnover grew 4.7 %, while German turnover even jumped 11.5 %. However, France was top of the class, with a 2015 turnover growth of 31 % to 73.3 million euro. Hema still struggles in Belgium and Luxembourg, where turnover dropped 0.4 %.
“2015 was a very important year for HEMA and we are thrilled with the positive turnover development. Our customers came to our stores more than ever and for the first time since 2008, we have had 4 straight quarters of like-for-like turnover growth. Internationally, we have opened more stores and our like-for-like turnover grew a lot there. We are on course for our short-term priorities and we have refocused our strategy”, CEO Tjeerd Jegen said.
Despite the growth, Hema still incurred a 72.5 million euro net loss, which is considerably lower than last year’s 189.2 million euro loss. Normalized EBTDA dropped 17.1 % to 85.5 million euro, because of lower gross margins and higher operational costs.