EQS-News: CEWE remains strong: turnover and earnings growth also in the second quarter

CEWE remains strong: turnover and earnings growth also in the second quarter

• Q2 sales continue to grow significantly by +8.2%, Q2 EBIT improves by +1.4 million euros
•  Earnings lead over the previous year increases to +4.3 million euros in the first half-year
• CEWE PHOTOBOOK sales volume grows by +5.0% in Q2
• Commercial Online-Print increases Q2 earnings by +0.6 million euros to 1.0 million euros
• Improvement in earnings in the first half of the year confirms annual forecast for 2024

Oldenburg, August 15, 2024 - CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA (SDAX, ISIN: DE 0005403901) remains on the success track in the second quarter after the strong start of the year in Q1 with significant growth in turnover and increased earnings: Q2 Group turnover grows by +8.2% to 151.5 million euros (Q2 2023: 140.0 million euros), Group EBIT improves by +1.4 million euros or +34.4% to -2.7 million euros (Q2 2023: -4.1 million euros) in Q2, which is traditionally negative due to seasonal factors. With this outstanding Q2 performance, CEWE further extends its EBIT earnings lead in the first six months to +4.3 million euros compared to the previous year: Group EBIT in the first half of 2024 rises to 5.4 million euros (H1 2023: 1.1 million euros), Group turnover increased significantly by +21.8 million euros or +7.4% to 317.1 million euros (H1 2023: 295.4 million euros). The earnings growth was mainly driven by the Photofinishing business segment (plus 3.4 million euros in EBIT) and Commercial Online-Print (plus 1.0 million euros in EBIT). "Our strategic focus continues to pay off: With innovative products and technologies, we inspire customers to create and share photo products of the highest quality. Despite challenging macroeconomic conditions, we are succeeding in constantly developing and expanding our business. This is a team effort by the entire CEWE Group. I would like to express my sincere thanks to all our employees," emphasizes Yvonne Rostock, Chairwoman of the Board of Management of CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA. "The improvement in earnings we have achieved has put us in a very good starting position for the second half of the year, with the fourth quarter being particularly important for us. We are now preparing for our seasonal peak in the upcoming Christmas business," explains Rostock. With the strong development of the first six months, the company is on course to achieve its annual targets: CEWE's management is forecasting Group turnover in a range of up to 820 million euros and Group EBIT of up to 87 million euros for the full year 2024.

Photofinishing business segment continues to grow and improve earnings

With Q2 sales growth of +11.0% to 122.6 million euros (Q2 2023: 110.4 million euros), photofinishing sales in the first half of 2024 rose significantly by +10.0% to 260.2 million euros (H1 2023: 236.5 million euros). The total number of photos sold grew by +4.3% to 460 million units in the second quarter (Q2 2023: 441 million units), while sales figures for the CEWE PHOTOBOOK rose by +5.0% to 1.131 million copies (Q2 2023: 1.077 million copies). The photofinishing EBIT improved by + 1.0 million euros to -3.1 million euros in the second quarter (Q2 2023: -4.1 million euros). Due to the high fixed cost remanence, the photofinishing EBIT is traditionally negative in Q2, which is weaker in terms of demand due to seasonal factors. In the first half of 2024, the photofinishing business segment made the largest contribution to Group EBIT with 4.4 million euros: An increase of +3.4 million euros compared to the first half of the previous year (H1 2023: 1.1 million euros).

Commercial Online-Print with sustainably improved results

In the second quarter, Commercial Online Print (COP) recorded only a slight decline in revenue of -1.1% to EUR 21.6 million (Q2 2023: EUR 21.8 million) in a printing market that is currently in decline overall. In the second quarter, COP once again achieved a significant improvement in EBIT of EUR +0.6 million to EUR 1.0 million (Q2 2023: EUR 0.4 million) on the basis of the continuously optimized cost structure. With half-year revenue of EUR 43.0 million (H1 2023: EUR 44.4 million), Commercial Online Print improved its EBIT by EUR +1.0 million to EUR 1.8 million in the first six months of 2024 (H1 2023: EUR 0.8 million). This successful development in a difficult market shows how COP at CEWE has achieved a first-class position for its customers thanks to cost efficiency in production and the "best price guarantee" (which is possible as a result).

CEWE retail trade remains well positioned

With a Q2 turnover of 7.3 million euros (Q2 2023: 7.8 million euros), the retail business with photo hardware (cameras, lenses, photo accessories) reported in the Retail segment achieved a 4.2% reduction in turnover to 14.0 million euros in the first half of 2024 (H1 2023: 14.6 million euros). CEWE continues to deliberately exclude lower-margin retail business in the photo hardware segment and focuses on business with photofinishing products (reported in the Photofinishing segment). With a Q2 EBIT of -0.1 million euros (Q2 2023: -0.1 million euros), the business segment thus improved its EBIT by +0.1 million euros to -0.2 million euros (H1 2023: -0.3 million euros) in the first half of the year, which is typically still negative due to seasonal factors.

Solid equity ratio rises to 66.7%, ROCE at a strong 19.2

At a very solid 66.7%, the equity ratio is even slightly above the previous year's level (30.06.2023: 66.1%). The return on capital employed (ROCE) also developed positively, rising from 18.1% in the previous year to a strong 19.2% as at June 30, 2024.

H1 results confirm 2024 outlook

The CEWE management sees the results of the first half of the year as confirmation of the targets set and reaffirms the outlook for 2024: Group turnover is expected to reach a value in the range of 770 to 820 million euros in 2024, while Group EBIT is expected to be in the corridor of 77 to 87 million euros in 2024. The CEWE management focuses on values in the upper half of the ranges when setting these targets; the lower end of the corridors merely reflects exogenous uncertainties that cannot be influenced by the company, such as a worsening inflation-related increase in prices. CEWE itself does not currently see any effects of Inflation on its own business: photo products in particular have a very high emotional value for many people and are increasingly in demand, largely independently of the overall economic development.

Overview Results H1 and Q2 2024

Rounding differences may occur. Exact values have always been used for percentage deviation calculations.

Notes to the "Earnings by Business Segment" chart

(1) Photofinishing:  Production and sale of photo products such as the CEWE PHOTOBOOK, calendars, greeting cards, wall art and individual (analogue and digital) photos as well as other photo products

(2) Retail: Trading in photo hardware, such as cameras and lenses, in Norway, Sweden, Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia

(3) Commercial Online-Print: Production and sale of commercial print products in the online printing portals of SAXOPRINT, viaprinto and LASERLINE

Should you have any queries, please contact:
CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA, Axel Weber (Investor Relations)
Tel.: 0441 / 404 - 552, Fax: 0441 / 404 - 421, Email: IR@cewe.de

Internet:  cewe.de , pixum.de , deindesign.de , whitewall.com , cheerz.com ,  

saxoprint.de, viaprinto.de , laser-line.de

You are welcome to join us at one of these investment conferences or to follow up on our pending publications:

Financial schedule

(insofar as already scheduled)

20.08.2024 German Select Online Conference, mwb research AG

22.08.2024 Montega Conference HIT, Hamburg

25.09.2024 Berenberg & Goldman Sachs German Corporate Conference 2024, Munich

26.09.2024 Baader Investment Conference 2024, Munich

14.11.2024 Publication Interim Statement Q3 2024

20.11.2024 CIC Market Solutions Forum, Paris

25.11.2024 Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum 2024, Frankfurt

About CEWE:

The CEWE Group is Europe's leading photo service and online printing supplier.

From its beginnings in 1912, CEWE has progressed to become the leading photo service company for all those wanting to make more of their photos. This is mainly due to the much-awarded CEWE PHOTOBOOK, with about six million books being sold each year. Customers can purchase other personalised photo products under the brand names of CEWE, Cheerz, DeinDesign, Pixum and WhiteWall – and from many leading retailers in Europe. They are inspired to produce a variety of creative designs from their personal photos in these brand environments, entrusting the company with more than 2 billion photos every year.

The CEWE Group has also set up a highly efficient production system for advertising prints and business prints for the online printing market. Every year billions of high-quality printed products are delivered reliably to their purchasers through the SAXOPRINT, LASERLINE and viaprinto sales platforms.

The CEWE Group, through the founder family of Neumüller as an anchor shareholder, focuses on sustainable corporate management and has already received many awards for this effort:  economically sustainable in the long term; cooperative and fair in dealings with customers, employees and suppliers; socially responsible and protective of the environment and resources.

The CEWE Group has a staff of 4,000 employees and operates in 21 countries. CEWE is listed on the SDAX. More information is available at company.cewe.de.