Kirkel – 30 December 2008. In the Westphalian towns of Marl and Munster the Praktiker Group, one of the leading home improvement and DIY supplier chains in Europe, will open the first two German green-energy stores in early May 2009. At both locations, customers will not only be able to enjoy a wide range of articles for home, garden and leisure-time activities, but they will also frequent a building which was consistently planned and erected for climate-friendly energy use throughout. An absolute innovation is the heating system for the building. For the first time at Praktiker Group, at both centers a heating system will be installed which converts ecologically friendly geothermal energy into zero-emission heating energy.

more

• Sales after nine months at 3,014.5 million euros (- 0.9 %)
• EBITA improved by 21.2 % to 109.5 million euros
• International: sales up by more than 20 percent
• Germany: higher quality of earnings
• Sales and earnings forecast for 2008 unchanged

Kirkel - October 23, 2008. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG continues to be on target for the fiscal year 2008. Despite the further booming international business, consolidated sales narrowly missed the record level of the prior year and came in at just around 3.015 billion euros. The quality of earnings however increased distinctly. The positive trend in operating earnings from the Second Quarter continued unbroken. The EBITA generated during the period from January through September of 109.5 million euros are 21.2 percent up from the figure reported last year. A similar increase in earnings (22.1 percent) was reported for the Third Quarter.

The Interim Report Q3/2008 is available here.

The statement of CEO Wolfgang Werner regarding the interim report Q3/2008 is available here.

more

Kirkel – September 30, 2008. From October 1, 2008, internal services at the Praktiker Group will be bundled in a separate service company, Praktiker Services GmbH. This relates to the functions IT, Organization and Logistics. With this important structural decision, efficiency and competitiveness of the Praktiker Group in Germany and abroad will be sustainably improved.

more

• Praktiker again voted number one for price
• Max Bahr ranks top for service

Kirkel, September 26, 2008 – The two-brand strategy of the Praktiker Group is successful. This was confirmed in the recent survey “Kundenmonitor Deutschland 2008“. DIY customers perceive the Praktiker brand as the price leader in the German DIY sector. Max Bahr was found to be particularly convincing in the fields of customer service and staff friendliness.

more

Kirkel – July 30, 2008. Praktiker will also in future advertise its 20-percent discount campaigns with the unchanged cult slogan “20 percent on everything except pet food”. In order to comply with a decision passed by the Higher Regional Court of Saarbrücken which has meanwhile become enforceable, when launching the next discount campaign (1 – 7 August 2008), the Tchibo articles on sale at the around 50 German Praktiker stores will not be marketed during the campaign period.

more

• EBITA increased at double-digit rate thanks to good earnings in the second quarter
• At two billion euro sales in first six months reach prior-year level
• Earnings forecast for 2008 confirmed – sales expectation subdued

Kirkel – July 23, 2008. In the second quarter 2008 – and also in the first half of the year – the Praktiker Group experienced a boost in earnings. Although the Group’s sales stagnated at the prior-year level in the wake of the impairing economic climate on the domestic market, the Group succeeded in boosting its operating profit (EBITA) by 20.5 percent to 59.2 million euros in the first six months of the current fiscal year. This was attributable to the highly satisfactory earnings trend in the second quarter based on a distinct improvement of the gross-profit margin especially in the domestic business. “We have demonstrated that earnings can be improved despite stagnant sales”, said Wolfgang Werner, Management Board Chairman of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG. Werner: “Praktiker is well on its way and on the right track”.

The Interim Report H1/2008 is available here.

more

Saarbrücken, May 30, 2008 – Like in the two previous years, shareholders of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG will receive a dividend in the amount of 0.45 euros per share for the financial year 2007. The ordinary Annual General Meeting of the company that went public on November 22, 2005 today approved the corresponding proposal submitted by the Management Board and Executive Board. Based on the closing price for 2007, this gives a dividend yield of 2.2 percent.

more

Converted Easy-to-Shop stores to be optimized as from Q3 2008

Saarbrücken – May 30, 2008. After a slow start into the year 2008, business of the Praktiker Group in Germany has picked up appreciably in the last two months. “In terms of sales but even more so in terms of the gross profit on sales we are fully on target“, said Wolfgang Werner, Chairman and CEO of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG, at this year’s Annual General Meeting held in Saarbrücken on Friday. “We started to catch up, which should bring us additional market share in the second quarter“. This notwithstanding Praktiker still anticipates that domestic like-for-like sales will be down from the year-earlier level. However, this trend would be more than compensated for by the dynamic growth of the company’s international segment so that the consolidated sales for 2008 are expected to “increase by a medium single-digit rate“.

The statement of CEO Wolfgang Werner regarding the annual general meeting is available here.

more

• Group sales at 865.1 million euros (-1.4 percent)
• Sales and earnings forecast for 2008 confirmed
• International business with strong sales and earnings growth
• Modified marketing strategy in Germany

Kirkel – April 23, 2008. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG made a slow start into the financial year 2008. Despite a sustained double-digit growth abroad, group sales receded by 1.4 percent to 865.1 million euros. Since Praktiker had distinctly reduced the number of discount campaigns, domestic sales declined by 6.6 percent. The consolidated quarterly loss in operating earnings that is usual for the season rose slightly to 20.8 million euros.

The Interim Report 1/2008 is available here.

The statement of CEO Wolfgang Werner regarding the interim report Q1/2008 is available here.

more

Kirkel – April 17, 2008. Praktiker is reversing the price spiral and thereby sending a reassuring message against inflation fears: this year, prices for the core assortments available at the 242 German Praktiker stores will be reduced across the board. The first round with 100 distinct price reductions on wood, paint and construction materials will start on April 18. The customers will on average benefit by around 13 percent.

more

• Group sales up 24.8 percent to 3.945 billion euros
• EBITA before conditions set by Federal Cartel Office raised to 125.8 million euros
• Capital expenditure at record level of around 168 million euros
• Proposed dividend of 0.45 euros per share
• Forecast for 2008: EBITA target of 135 to 140 million euros

Frankfurt, 2 April 2008 – In fiscal year 2007, the Praktiker Group generated the highest sales and the best operating result so far in its 30-year history. Net sales of the Group were up 24.8 percent to 3.945 billion euros. Earnings before interest, taxes and amortization (EBITA) – before the conditions set by the Federal Cartel Office for the approval of the Max Bahr acquisition – came in at 125.8 million euros. The targets of the company’s forecast presented one year ago have thus been achieved. Growth was driven by the takeover of Max Bahr effective on 1 February 2007 and a strongly expanding international business. Capital expenditure rose to a record level of around 168 million euros. In view of the positive development of its operating business, the Management Board and the Advisory Board will propose a dividend of 0.45 euros per share to the Annual General Meeting on May 30, 2008.

The speech and presentation of the annual press conference are available here.

more

Kirkel – March 31, 2008. Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG attributes much importance to the subject of corruption prevention. In order to prevent corruption and keep it away from routine business, the employees and business partners of the Praktiker Group are provided access to an external, independent ombudsman as contact with effect from April 1, 2008.

more

• Germany: position strengthened despite negative market trend
• International: Sustained strong growth
• EBITA forecast confirmed

Kirkel – January 10, 2008. According to still preliminary figures, Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG increased its net consolidated sales by 24.8 percent to 3.95 billion euros during the fiscal year just ended. With this result, the Praktiker Group reached the sales forecast for 2007 of around four billion euros despite difficult conditions on the domestic market. In Germany, sales rose by 25.5 percent to 2.86 billion euros in 2007 as a consequence of the acquisition of Max Bahr. International sales came in at 1.08 billion euros, which is 23.0 percent over last year.

more

Kirkel – March 6, 2008. In the course of this week, the Praktiker Group reached another milestone on its international expansion route when it inaugurated new stores in Poland (Poznan) and Turkey (Istanbul). These are the first two of up to 20 stores planned to be set up in the course of 2008 to strengthen the presence of Praktiker in Eastern and South East Europe. Investments will be focused on Romania and the Ukraine.

more

Kirkel – March 19, 2008. The new Management Board Member Human Resources and Labor Director of Praktiker Bau- und Heimwerkermärkte Holding AG, Karl-Heinz Stroh, will assume his duties with effect on March 21, 2008. Stroh, who had previously served on the Management Board of DB Netz AG in Frankfurt/Main, had been appointed by the Supervisory Board in its meeting on December 13, 2007.

more