Home24 reports 72.5% rise in sales in 2014

Sales growth escalated for pan-European ecommerce furniture retailer Home24 in 2014 though lower prices meant falling gross margin and wider losses.

The Germany based retailer — which operates across Europe but not yet the UK — grew sales by 72.5 per cent to €160.1m in the year to end December.

Customer numbers doubled to 1.39m while the number of total orders shipped was up by 80 per cent to 965,000 year-on-year.

FY gross margin declined 220 basis points to 36.8 per cent, which Home24 put down to more attractive end consumer pricing, offset by better purchasing conditions and the development of private label brands.

Other costs — such as marketing and fulfilment — reduced, but not enough to see an improvement in profits with its adjusted EBITDA deficit widening to €49.4m, up from €31.6m in 2013.

Despite the bigger losses, management and investors highlighted that its EBITDA margin had improved by 320 basis points to -30.8 per cent. Year-end cash declined to €29.7m (2013: €34m).

Source : The Furnishing Report
www.thefurnishingreport.com