ECULLY, France – In a difficult and uncertain context, Groupe SEB delivered satisfactory performances in 2020. Following a good fourth quarter, annual turnover came out at €6,940m, down 5.6% year on year. The decline comprises a limited organic decrease of 3.8%, a currency effect of -€219m (-3.0%) and a scope effect (mainly Storebound, acquired in July 2020) of +€81m (+1,2%).
The Consumer business ends the year on a positive tone, with annual sales practically stable LFL (like-for-like) (-0.5%). This stability is the result of several factors:
- the resilience of household consumption, notably in products for the home;
- a rapid ramp-up in online sales starting with the initial lockdowns, which offset in part the steep decline in in-store sales (mandatory closures and/or decrease in footfall);
- major sales volatility from one month to the next, with periods of substantial restocking by retailers;
- a less promotional environment overall.
In contrast, Professional sales fell 30.7% LFL in 2020, impacted by extremely limited business activity in the hospitality and catering sectors. This situation led our customers to suspend, postpone or reduce their investments in equipment (coffee machines) and significantly limited maintenance interventions.
After a difficult first half (sales down -12.7% and -12.6% LFL), in which the Consumer business was strongly impacted by very strict health measures in many countries, starting with China, the Group returned to growth in the second half of the year (+0.2%, of which +3.6% organic growth).
This recovery resulted from a rebound in small domestic equipment (+7.8% LFL in the second half), against a backdrop of generally strong resilience in demand but a monetary environment that has been considerably tense since the summer (currency effect of -€219m on turnover stemming from the significant depreciation of the Russian ruble, Turkish lira, Brazilian real, Mexican peso, Colombian peso, and the US dollar against the euro). The Professional business declined throughout the year, with a significant disruption starting in the second quarter.
More specifically, the trend in the fourth quarter was consistent with that in the third quarter. While reported sales, at €2,228m, were down slightly on 2019 (-0.5%) owing to more penalizing currency effects (-€109m, -4.9%), organic growth came out at +2.9% (vs. +4.4% in the third quarter) and was more buoyant than expected, particularly at the end of the period. The scope effect amounted to +€32m, or +1.5%.
As in the third quarter, the LFL increase in turnover of Groupe SEB in the fourth quarter is due to the strong momentum of the Consumer business (up 6.2%), which:
- continued to be driven by all continents; the implementation from mid-November onwards of new health measures in some regions (partial lockdowns, curfews, store closures, etc.) had no impact on sell-in;
- continued to be bolstered by a strong small domestic equipment market;
- is still to be attributed mainly to e-commerce;
- benefited from increased growth drivers, as announced.
However, the fourth quarter did not see a clear improvement in the Professional business, which continued to be heavily impacted by the difficulties of the hospitality and catering sectors.
Thierry de La Tour d’Artaise, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Groupe SEB, stated:
“For all of us, 2020 will be remembered as the year of an unprecedented health crisis with major economic impacts.
This health crisis revealed two key trends: certain practices, such as home cooking, became more widespread, enabling us to demonstrate the relevance of our products ,and services and customers made ever-greater use of e-commerce, a trend we believe is here to stay.
Thanks to the agility and commitment of our teams, we delivered a good fourth-quarter performance, reflecting the Group’s resilience over the past year, despite difficulties encountered in the Professional business owing to the persistence of the pandemic.
The Group stayed the course and continued to pursue its active M&A strategy with the acquisitions of StoreBound and Angell, as well as stepped up existing efforts on key strategic projects.
Today, the market environment is uncertain, but we remain confident in our fundamentals, which will be key strengths as we navigate this trying period.”
