CEWE reports first-quarter sales increase 6.6%

CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA  announcd group turnover increased by +6.6% to 165.7 million euros in the first quarter of 2024, setting a new high for the first quarter (Q1 2023: 155.3 million euros). At the same time, group EBIT improved by EUR 2.9 million to EUR 8.1 million (Q1 2023: EUR 5.2 million). All business segments contributed to this: The earnings momentum is largely driven by the core business segment Photofinishing with an EBIT increase of 2.4 million euros, Commercial Online-Print improved its EBIT by 0.4 million euros and Retail was also able to improve its earnings contribution by 0.1 million euros.

“The strong first quarter in terms of turnover and earnings is an impressive team effort by all CEWE employees and a very successful start to the year, which confirms the trend of a continuously stronger first quarter and also reinforces our planning for 2024. We are particularly pleased that the innovative strength of the CEWE Group has once again been recognized and honoured by the international expert jury of the Technical Image Press Association with three TIPA World Awards,” said Yvonne Rostock, Chairwoman of the Board of Management of CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA. With the strong development of the first quarter, the company is clearly on course to achieve its annual targets: CEWE’s management is forecasting Group turnover of up to 820 million euros and Group EBIT of up to 87 million euros for 2024. With the 15th consecutive dividend increase, CEWE recently rose to second place – among all 611 German listed companies surveyed that have continuously increased their dividends (measured by the duration of dividend increases in years).

Photofinishing: Strong Q1 results 

In the first quarter of 2024, photofinishing turnover once again rose significantly by +9.1% to 137.6 million euros (Q1 2023: 126.1 million euros), while photofinishing EBIT recorded an increase of 2.4 million euros and reached 7.5 million euros (Q1 2023: 5.2 million euros).

Commercial Online-Print further increases profitability

The Commercial Online Print (COP) business segment continues to benefit from the cost efficiency achieved in production at SAXOPRINT and the resulting “best price guarantee” for its customers: Despite a slight decline in turnover, COP managed to improve EBIT by EUR 0.4 million to EUR 0.8 million (Q1 2023: EUR 0.4 million) on the basis of the continuously optimized cost structure. The business segment held its own against the competition and recorded a decline in turnover of 4.9% to EUR 21.4 million in the first quarter (Q1 2023: EUR 22.6 million) in what is currently a slightly declining market overall.

CEWE retail continues to be well-positioned 

Hardware retail achieved a turnover of 6.6 million euros in Q1, only slightly below that of the same quarter of the previous year (Q1 2023: 6.7 million euros). CEWE is systematically avoiding lower-margin retail business in the area of photo hardware (cameras and accessories) and continues to focus on business with Photofinishing products (reported in the Photofinishing segment). The business segment even improved EBIT slightly to -0.1 million euros in the typically seasonally weak first quarter (Q1 2023: -0.2 million euros).

Overview Results Q1 2024