European beauty group Douglas posts 31 percent sales increase

In the second quarter of 2021/22, European beauty group Douglas increased its sales by around 31 percent to 719 million euros; while in like-for-like terms, sales were up around 39 percent. Group like-for-like sales were thus 12 percent higher compared to the pre-Covid period.

The company said that the brick & mortar business picked up noticeably following the relaxation of Covid restrictions in the months from January to March of this year, more than doubling sales year-on-year.

"We are now seeing the ratios of online and store sales starting to rebalance after the end of the lockdowns," said Tina Müller, Douglas Group CEO, adding, “It is pleasing that we were able to maintain this high level while also achieving disproportionately strong growth in our store business."

Sales in the online business amounted to 250 million euros, down 14.3 percent versus prior-year quarter. In the store business, like-for-like sales increased by 117.3 percent year-on-year to 471 million euros following the re-openings. All regions contributed to the significant sales increase, in particular German-speaking Europe, France and Eastern Europe.

The group operating result (adjusted EBITDA) rose in the second quarter by 26.5 million euros to 25 million euros, following a negative result in the prior-year quarter. The EBITDA margin increased to 3.5 percent, in the entire first half of 2021/22, it amounted to 10.7 percent.

In the first half of 2021/22, Douglas increased sales by 16.9 percent to approximately 2 billion euros, while operating earnings (adjusted EBITDA) improved by 27.3 percent to 216 million euros.