Jan 19 (Reuters) - German beauty retailer Douglas reported first-quarter sales in line with market expectations on Monday, but said customers' heightened price sensitivity led to a weaker than
Douglas Reports Q1 Sales in Line with Expectations Amid Consumer Caution
Douglas Sales Performance Overview
Jan 19 (Reuters) - German beauty retailer Douglas reported first-quarter sales in line with market expectations on Monday, but said customers' heightened price sensitivity led to weaker than expected profit margins in the key holiday shopping period.
Sales Figures and Market Expectations
Quarterly net sales stood at 1.67 billion euros ($1.94 billion) and broadly matched analysts' mean estimate of 1.68 billion euros in a Vara poll.
Impact of Consumer Sentiment
The first quarter is a peak season for Douglas, given a number of sales events including Black Friday and the busy season leading up to Christmas. Performance during this period can be seen as an indication on how the business will fare for the rest of the year.
Future Outlook and Forecast
"Business during the key promotional events Singles’ Day and Black Week performed relatively well, but also partially led to a forward pulling effect of Christmas purchases," the company said.
As a result, comparative sales during the quarter were the strongest in November, while December sales were weaker than expected particularly in Germany, the Netherlands and France, it said.
Shares of Douglas fell 3% following the trading statement. It will report full first-quarter results on February 11.
The cosmetics retailer confirmed its sales forecast of 4.65 billion to 4.8 billion euros for the financial year running through September 2026.
"The environment in which we operate remains challenging, with macroeconomic and geopolitical developments continuing to weigh on consumer sentiment and increase customers’ price sensitivity," CEO Sander Van der Laan said in the press release.
Douglas' core profit margin, or proportion of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation to sales, fell to around 19.9% in the quarter, from 21.5% a year ago. This stemmed from a weaker gross margin that was hit by shoppers' price sensitivity and product mix effects, it said.
($1 = 0.8601 euros)
(Reporting by Cian Muenster and Emanuele Berro in Gdansk, editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak; additional reporting by Canan Sevgili)
