(AFP / GERARD JULIEN)
The Fnac Darty group, still disturbed by inflation, achieved 1.8 billion euros in turnover (+0.7%) in the first quarter of 2024 and maintained its financial objectives for the year, while specifying that “the timetable for the resumption of volumes” sold “remains uncertain”.
Inflation, particularly in food prices, has weighed on the results of many brands selling so-called “discretionary” goods, that is to say considered less of a priority by many consumers.
The group saw its sales decline in value last year, to 7.87 billion euros (-0.9%) for a net profit of 50 million euros. Sales had declined further in terms of volume since the price of the products sold increased at the same time.
“There are no surprises during this first quarter, which is a small quarter for the group,” explained the group’s financial director Jean-Brieuc Le Tinier to AFP on Wednesday. In comparison, the last quarter of 2023 accounted for more than a third of annual sales.
Geographically, activity in Spain “remains difficult but less than last year, Portugal is doing very well” and activity in France is doing better than the market, he assures.
Regarding products, books continue to do well, while products related to video games are in decline due to “a high basis of comparison”. But this activity does not generate much margin, specifies Jean-Brieuc Le Tinier. In addition, “large household appliances are returning to positive territory”, after two years of decline due to over-equipment at the time of the Covid-19 epidemic.
For his part, general manager Enrique Martinez welcomed in the group’s press release “the success of the bond refinancing operation” carried out in mid-March and leaving it without a “major repayment deadline” before April 2029.
Fnac Darty, which will hold its general meeting on May 29, reiterates “at this stage” its financial objectives for 2024, but nevertheless clarified that “the timetable for the recovery of volumes remains uncertain” and that it “maintains its vigilance regarding the evolution of the economic and geopolitical context.
“We are waiting for the recovery in consumption, we should have it but the reality is that we do not see it in the first quarter”, explains the financial director, specifying that “consumption has time to pick up from here the fourth trimester.