Leifheit Aktiengesellschaft: Preliminary figures for the first quarter 2022, Earnings before interest and taxes significantly down on previous year

Nassau, 14 April 2022 - Leifheit AG (ISIN DE0006464506) publishes preliminary figures for the first quarter 2022. As expected, sharply rising material, freight and energy costs as well as continuing bottlenecks on the procurement markets burden earnings development. At the same time, against the background of the Russia-Ukraine war and rising inflation, consumer restraint in the core markets is noticeable.

According to preliminary calculations Group earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) reached EUR 2.7 million in the first quarter 2022. This corresponds to a decrease of EUR 5.6 million compared to the extraordinary strong first quarter of the previous year (Q1 2021: EUR 8.3 million). Group EBIT was significantly influenced by the decline in gross profit. Sales price increases have a delayed effect and they only partially compensated for the cost increases on the procurement side.

In the first three months of the current fiscal year, the Leifheit Group achieved turnover of EUR 71.8 million. Turnover was thus 16.5% below the record level of the first quarter 2021 (Q1 2021: EUR 85.9 million), in which growth of 25.1% had been generated. Nevertheless, the second-highest quarterly turnover in the last 15 years was achieved on a like-for-like basis in the first quarter of 2022.

Business development in the first quarter is in line with the forecast for the full year 2022 published in March, according to which consolidated turnover for the full year is expected to be slightly and EBIT significantly below the previous year's figure.

The information on the development in the first quarter of 2022 is based on preliminary calculations. Therefore, there may be deviations from this information in the figures that will be published in the quarterly statement on May 11, 2022.