Parent company of Mediamarkt and Saturn benefits from tax refund before takeover

Ceconomy, the parent company of Mediamarkt and Saturn, reports mixed financial data ahead of the takeover of the majority stake by Chinese e-commerce company JD.com. In the third quarter of the 2024/2025 financial year, which ended on June 30, sales fell by 2.3 percent to 4.8 billion euros. This decline in turnover is due to the hyperinflation of the Turkish lira. The money earned there is simply worth much less. If the lira had remained stable, Ceconomy would have achieved two percent sales growth.

Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) have hardly changed year-on-year: -79 million euros in the same period of the previous year, -78 million euros now. There were also no major changes in the financial result: -53 million euros in the same quarter of the previous year, -56 million euros now. The operating cash flow, on the other hand, has developed splendidly: after a minus of 44 million euros in the third financial quarter of 2023/24, there is now a plus of 249 million euros. This is primarily due to a significant improvement in net operating assets and, to a lesser extent, tax refunds.

Online business is growing

Online retail is also gaining in importance at Ceconomy: of the total turnover of 4.8 billion euros, 1.1 billion euros came from online business, an increase of 6.8 percent. Ceconomy reports good online business development in Hungary, Germany, and Austria in particular. At the same time, the company reports a downward trend in its brick-and-mortar business in these countries.

The store network grew slightly in the third quarter. The company currently operates 1063 stores in Europe, 401 of which are in Germany. While the company expanded its presence with five openings in Italy and one in Germany, it closed two locations in Poland and one in Spain. At the end of the last financial year, the store network comprised 1030 stores.

The company's shares were quoted at 4.44 euros on August 13. JD.com wants to pay 4.60 per share according to its takeover offer. According to Handelsblatt, the takeover is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026. However, the German Kellerhals family will retain a blocking minority stake of around 25.4 percent in Ceconomy.

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