EQS-News: CEWE: With an increase in earnings after nine months, 2024 targets has been confirmed

CEWE: With an increase in earnings after nine months, 2024 targets has been confirmed

• Group turnover Q1-3 exceeds previous year's figure by +6.3% and rises to 481.6 million euros
• Group EBIT rises by 3.2 million euros year-on-year after nine months to reach 5.5 million euros
• Photofinishing, Retail and Commercial Online-Print improve result
• All annual targets for 2024 confirmed, planned operational investments for 2024 concretized to approx. 60 million euros

Oldenburg, November 14, 2024. CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA (SDAX, ISIN: DE 0005403901) enters the all-important Christmas quarter with an increase in turnover and a lead in earnings, and confirms its annual targets for 2024: in the first nine months, CEWE increased Group turnover by +6.3 % to 481.6 million euros (Q1-3 2023: 453.2 million euros) and at the same time improved Group EBIT by +3.2 million euros to 5.5 million euros (Q1-3 2023: 2.3 million euros). In the third quarter, group turnover exceeded the previous year's figure by +4.2% to 164.4 million euros (Q3 2023: 157.8 million euros). Group EBIT for the third quarter, at 0.1 million euros, reached a balanced level that is typical for the season (Q3 2023: 1.2 million euros), although the company has already invested around 1.5 million euros more in marketing measures than in the same quarter of the previous year, partly also in preparation for the important Christmas business in the fourth quarter. CEWE is optimistic about the upcoming Christmas business, which traditionally generates the lion's share of the annual result. CEWE CEO Yvonne Rostock: “The company is well prepared in all areas and the entire CEWE team, with all employees, is very much looking forward to the upcoming Christmas business. We will again be investing more in the market to inspire many people to design and share top-quality photo products. We stand for this with our intuitive design software, our quality promise and our excellent delivery capability.” Photo products in particular have a very high emotional value for many people, especially as Christmas gifts, and are in demand regardless of the overall economic development.

Photofinishing business segment continues to grow

Photofinishing turnover rose by +5.8% to 136.1 million euros in the third quarter of 2024 (Q3 2023: 128.7 million euros). This is due to both the slightly higher photo volume and the further increase in turnover per photo resulting from an even higher-quality product mix. At 0.4 million euros, Photofinishing EBIT is at a typical Q3 level and thus – despite, for example, around EUR 1.5 million in additional costs for marketing measures also in preparation for the Q4 Christmas business – only slightly below the EBIT of the prior-year quarter (Q3 2023: 0.7 million euros). In the first nine months, photofinishing turnover increased by +8.5% to 396.3 million euros (Q1-3 2023: 365.2 million euros). Photofinishing EBIT improved significantly by +3.1 million euros to 4.9 million euros during this period (Q1-3 2023: 1.8 million euros). CEWE continues to successfully expand its photofinishing business through continuous innovation, strong brand positions and extensive marketing activities. This year, too, many product and software innovations – such as the panorama page in the CEWE PHOTOBOOK, the Fineline wall calendar, many new photo gifts or the new editor in the order software – will additionally support the Christmas business.

Commercial Online-Print succeeds with best price guarantee

Commercial Online-Print (COP) is showing a better demand trend than the market as a whole at present, with a -3.0% decline in turnover to 21.2 million euros in the third quarter (Q3 2023: 21.9 million euros). In a printing market that was particularly weak and competitive in Q3, COP thus achieved an EBIT of 0.2 million euros (Q3 2023: 0.7 million euros). In the first nine months of 2024, the COP generated a slightly reduced turnover of 64.2 million euros (Q1-3 2023: 66.3 million euros; -3.0%). At the same time, COP significantly improved its EBIT by +0.5 million euros to 2.0 million euros (Q1-3 2023: 1.5 million euros): This successful development in a difficult market shows how COP at CEWE has established a strong position with cost efficiency in production and the (thereby possible) “best price guarantee” for its customers.

CEWE retail business remains well positioned

As planned, the retail business with photo hardware (e.g. cameras, lenses, photo accessories) achieved a slight reduction in turnover of -3.4% to 21.0 million euros in the first nine months of 2024 (Q1-3 2023: 21.8 million euros), with a Q3 turnover of 7.1 million euros (Q3 2023: 7.2 million euros. In the area of photo hardware, CEWE continues to consciously avoid lower-margin trading business and focuses on the business with photofinishing products (reported in the photofinishing segment). As a result, the business unit improved its EBIT in the nine-month period, which is typically still negative due to seasonal factors, by +0.1 million euros to -0.3 million euros (Q1-3 2023: -0.4 million euros) with an EBIT of -0.1 million euros in Q3 (Q3 2023: -0.1 million euros). The retail sector also generates the majority of its annual earnings during the Christmas business in the fourth quarter.

Solid equity ratio rises to 65.8%, ROCE at a strong 18.8%

At a very solid 65.8%, the equity ratio was even slightly higher than in the previous year (September 30, 2023: 63.8%). At the same time, return on capital employed (ROCE) developed positively, rising to a strong 18.8% as of September 30, 2024, compared to 18.1% in the previous year.

Q1-3 results confirm outlook for 2024

The CEWE management sees the results of the first nine months as confirmation of the targets set and confirms the outlook for 2024: Group turnover is to reach a value in the range of 770 to 820 million euros in 2024, with Group EBIT expected to be in the range of 77 to 87 million euros in 2024. In setting these targets, CEWE's management is aiming for figures in the upper half of the ranges. The EBIT of EUR 5.5 million achieved in the first nine months of 2024 is the best Q1-3 EBIT since the end of the analog/digital transformation in 2010 and thus represents a good starting point for achieving the annual target ahead of the important Christmas quarter. As usual, the figure for planned operative investments for the year becomes more specific at the end of the third quarter. Instead of the previously announced 65 million euros, CEWE now expects to invest around 60 million euros in property, plant and equipment and intangible assets in 2024.

Overview Results Q1-3 and Q3 2024

Rounding differences may occur. Exact values have always been used for percentage deviation calculations.

Notes to the "Earnings by Business Segment" chart

(1) Photofinishing:  Production and sale of photo products such as the CEWE PHOTOBOOK, calendars, greeting cards, wall art and individual (analogue and digital) photos as well as other photo products

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

(3) Commercial Online-Print: Production and sale of commercial print products in the online printing portals of SAXOPRINT, viaprinto and LASERLINE

Should you have any queries, please contact:
CEWE Stiftung & Co. KGaA, Axel Weber (Investor Relations)
Tel.: 0441 / 404 - 552, Fax: 0441 / 404 - 421, Email: IR@cewe.de

Internet:  cewe.de , pixum.de , deindesign.de , whitewall.com , cheerz.com ,  

saxoprint.de, viaprinto.de , laser-line.de

You are welcome to join us at one of these investment conferences or to follow up on our pending publications:

Financial schedule

(insofar as already scheduled)

20.11.2024 CIC Market Solutions Forum, Paris

25.11.2024 Deutsches Eigenkapitalforum 2024, Frankfurt

09.01.2025 ODDO BHF Forum 2025, Lyon

21.01.2025 GCC 2025 – UniCredit/Kepler Cheuvreux Konferenz

27.03.2025 CEWE Annual Press and Analyst Conference 2025

27.03.2025 Publication Annual Report 2024

15.05.2025 Publication of Q1 2025 Interim Statement

04.06.2025 CEWE Annual General Meeting 2025, Weser-Ems-Halle Oldenburg

14.08.2025 Publication of H1 2025 Interim Report

23.09.2025 Berenberg & Goldman Sachs German Corporate Conference 2025, Munich

24.09.2025 Baader Investment Conference 2025, Munich

13.11.2025 Publication Q3 2025 Interim Statement

About CEWE:

The CEWE Group is Europe's leading photo service and online printing supplier.

From its beginnings in 1912, CEWE has progressed to become the leading photo service company for all those wanting to make more of their photos. This is mainly due to the much-awarded CEWE PHOTOBOOK, with about six million books being sold each year. Customers can purchase other personalised photo products under the brand names of CEWE, Cheerz, DeinDesign, Pixum and WhiteWall – and from many leading retailers in Europe. They are inspired to produce a variety of creative designs from their personal photos in these brand environments, entrusting the company with more than 2 billion photos every year.

The CEWE Group has also set up a highly efficient production system for advertising prints and business prints for the online printing market. Every year billions of high-quality printed products are delivered reliably to their purchasers through the SAXOPRINT, LASERLINE and viaprinto sales platforms.

The CEWE Group, through the founder family of Neumüller as an anchor shareholder, focuses on sustainable corporate management and has already received many awards for this effort:  economically sustainable in the long term; cooperative and fair in dealings with customers, employees and suppliers; socially responsible and protective of the environment and resources.

The CEWE Group has a staff of 4,000 employees and operates in 21 countries. CEWE is listed on the SDAX. More information is available at company.cewe.de.