CEWE second-quarter sales up 13.1%

CEWE Stiftung & Co. grew in all business areas in the second quarter and, at EUR 132.0 million, generated group sales that were 13.1% higher than in the same quarter same period last year, which had sales EUR 116.7 million. At the same time, the company improved its EBIT by EUR 2.1 million to EUR -4.3 million (EBIT Q2 2021: EUR -6.4 million).

“The positive development in the second quarter has allowed all business areas to grow and confirms our goal for 2022,” says Dr. Christian Friege, CEO. “The number of holiday trips, celebrations and events, which is again clearly increasing, is currently creating numerous photo opportunities, which have increasingly strengthened our business in the course of the second quarter. In particular, these photos should become lasting memories in a CEWE PHOTO BOOK, a photo calendar, on a mural and many other personal photo gifts in the fourth quarter of the coming year.”

In the entire first half of 2022, CEWE achieved sales of EUR 270.9 million, compared to EUR 262.6 million in 2021 and an EBIT of EUR -2.2 million, compared to EUR 2.1 million for the same period last year. The reason for the lower half-year result so far compared to the previous year is the very positive “stay-at-home” effect in 2021: In the first quarter of last year, CEWE still recorded an exceptional boom due to the lockdown as part of the corona pandemic, the company said.

Photofinishing grows by 8.2% in Q2

Photofinishing sales rose by +8.2% to EUR 101.2 million in the second quarter as the COVID-19  situation continued to normalize, the company said. The number of photos grew by 10.7% to 410 million, exceeding the target for the current financial year (-7% to +4%). The company recorded a particularly strong growth impulse with the CEWE PHOTOBOOK: In the second quarter, customers ordered 1.031 million CEWE PHOTOBOOK copies, 14.3% more than in the second quarter of 2021 the demand for photo products is significantly reduced. EBIT in the Photofinishing division improved in the second quarter of 2022 by EUR 1.4 million to EUR -4.3 million (Q2 2021: EUR -5.7 million).

Even compared to Q2 2019, the last Q2 before Corona, photofinishing sales increased by +4.1%. The current Q2 EBIT remained below the corresponding reference value from Q2 2019 (EBIT Q2 2019: EUR -1.1 million) due to the increased cost level. Due to price increases that have now been agreed and are balanced in line with the market, the CEWE management expects increasing contribution margins in the second half of 2022. In the fourth quarter, CEWE regularly generates around 95% of the annual photofinishing result.

“In the past, the company has repeatedly shown that the CEWE business model tends not to be affected by a decline in general consumer spending,” continues Friege.

Commercial online printing sales up 52.5% in Q2

Commercial online printing (KOD) grew by 52.5% compared to the same quarter of the previous year and achieved sales of 20 .8 million euros in sales (Q2 2021: 13.7 million euros). Even at this sales level, the KOD generates a balanced EBIT of EUR 0.1 million (Q2 2021: EUR -0.2 million including short-time work effects). With an optimized cost structure, the Commercial Online Printing division with its brands SAXOPRINT, viaprinto and Laserline is once again documenting its overall lower break-even point: In the second quarter of 2019, CEWE had higher sales of even 25.0 million euros still a loss of -1.1 million

Photo hardware retail sales up 4.4%

The retail sector is also benefiting from the ongoing relaxation of the coronavirus and achieved a sales increase of 4.4% to EUR 7.9 million in the second quarter (Q2 2021: EUR 7.6 million). At the same time, EBIT in retail improves to EUR -0.2 million (Q2 2021: EUR -0.3 million). The CEWE retail trade is thus well positioned overall. Also compared to the pre-Corona Q2 in 2019, sales fell by a good 30% in line with the strategy with the reduced number of branches, while the earnings situation improved at the same time (EBIT Q2 2019: EUR -0.3 million). In retail, too, the largest share of the annual result is traditionally generated in the fourth quarter. 

Results Q2 and H1 2022 at a glance 

CEWE business areas	Unit	Q2 2021	Q2 2022	H1 2021	H1 2022
(1) Photofinishing
photos	million pcs.	370.6	410.2	890.7	877.2
CEWE PHOTOBOOK	thousand pieces	902	1,031	2,235	2.174
Sales volume	million Euro	93.6	101.2	218.5	213.8
EBIT	million Euro	-5.7	-4.3	4.1	-1.8
Effects from purchase price allocations	million Euro	-1.0	-1.0	-2.1	-1.9
EBIT before special items	million Euro	-4.6	-3.3	6.2	0.1
(2) Retail
Sales volume	million Euro	7.6	7.9	13.8	14.4
EBIT	million Euro	-0.3	-0.2	-0.7	-0.4
(3) Commercial Online Printing
Sales volume	million Euro	13.7	20.8	26.5	38.7
EBIT	million Euro	-0.2	0.1	-0.8	-0.2
Effects from purchase price allocations	million Euro	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1	-0.1
EBIT before special items	million Euro	-0.1	0.2	-0.7	-0.1
(3) Other
Sales volume	million Euro	1.9	2.0	3.7	4.0
EBIT	million Euro	-0.3	0.0	-0.4	0.1
CEWE Group	Unit	Q2 2021	Q2 2022	H1 2021	H1 2022
Sales volume	million Euro	116.7	132.0	262.6	270.9
EBIT	million Euro	-6.4	-4.3	2.1	-2.2
Total of special effects	million Euro	-1.1	-1.0	-2.2	-2.0
EBIT before special items	million Euro	-5.3	-3.3	4.3	-0.2
EBT	million Euro	-6.8	-4.1	1.5	-2.3

 

Rounding differences may arise. Deviations are always calculated with the exact values.

Explanations of the table “Results by business segment”

(1) Photo finishing:   production and sale of photo products such as the CEWE PHOTO BOOK, calendars, greeting cards, murals and individual (analogue and digital) photos and other photo products

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

(3) Commercial online printing: production and sale of commercial print products from the online print portals of SAXOPRINT, viaprinto and LASERLINE