In the first six months of the current financial year 2014/15, GERRY WEBER International AG generated consolidated sales revenues of EUR 432.7 million (H1 2013/14: EUR 412.8 million).
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This is an increase of 4.8% on the previous year. The rise in revenues is attributable to the initial consolidation of HALLHUBER and to the expansion of the GERRY WEBER Retail segment.
HALLHUBER made a revenue contribution of EUR 33.8 million in the second quarter of 2014/15. In spite of the 6.7% increase in sales revenues to EUR 201.3 million (H1 2013/14: EUR 188.6 million), the GERRY WEBER Retail segment suffered from difficult market conditions, low footfall and high markdowns. This is clearly reflected in the 4.6% decline in like-for-like sales.
HALLHUBER was able to increase its like-for-like sales by 1% in the first half of 2014/15, thus clearly outperforming the German market as a whole, which reported a decline by 5%. The 6.7% increase in the GERRY WEBER Retail segment's sales revenues is mainly attributable to the new sales spaces opened in the past 24 months.
As of 30 April 2015, there were 800 company-managed GERRY WEBER, TAIFUN and SAMOON sales spaces as well as 237 own HALLHUBER sales spaces.
Due to the lower-than-planned sales revenues, the increased markdowns on seasonal items and the expansion-related higher fixed costs, earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were down by 14.9% on the first half of the previous year to EUR 52.5 million in the first half of 2014/2015.
Especially the decline in Wholesale revenues and in like-for-like sales of the GERRY WEBER Retail segment led to this sharp drop in six-month EBITDA. Both segments generate high margins and make a major contribution to the company's EBIT, which means that a reduction has disproportionate effects on the company's bottom line.
The expansion-related increase in personnel and other operating expenses, both at HALLHUBER and, in particular, in the GERRY WEBER Retail segment, also weighed on the Group's EBITDA.
Compared to the first half of 2013/14, personnel expenses were up by 19.9% to EUR 87.5 million and other operating expenses by 20.5% to EUR 119.2 million.
Against this background and due to HALLHUBER's historically lower EBITDA margin (6.3%), the EBITDA margin of the GERRY WEBER Group as a whole declined from 15.0% in the first half of the previous year to 12.1% in H1 2014/15.
In addition, increased depreciation/amortisation resulting from the Retail expansion and the HALLHUBER acquisition weighed on the bottom line of the GERRY WEBER Group. Depreciation/amortisation rose by EUR 4.0 million to EUR 16.3 million in the first half of 2014/15.
Taking into account the above factors, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of the GERRY WEBER Group amounted to EUR 36.2 million in H1 2014/15, down by 26.8% on the first six months of the previous year. Accordingly, the EBIT margin declined from 12.0% in H1 2013/14 to 8.4%. ■