Companies

Zalando grows in the second quarter

Aug 9, 2024 Germany

The German-based online fashion retailer has seen its sales accelerate in the second quarter of the year and profitability improve. CFO Sandra Dembeck will exit the company in February 2025

“Our ecosystem strategy empowers us to cover a larger share of the fashion and lifestyle e-commerce market, and the positive response from customers and partners in the second quarter validates our vision,” commented Robert Gentz, Zalando Co-CEO.

Second Quarter Results

In the second quarter of 2024, Zalando’s gross merchandise volume reached 3.8 billion euros, an increase of 2.8%, and revenue totalled 2.6 billion euros, an increase of 3.4%, on a comparable basis to the same period of last year.

Adjusted earnings before interest and taxes (adjusted EBIT) rose to 171.6 million euros in the second quarter, as compared to 144.8 million euros in the second quarter of 2023, with the EBIT margin expanding by 0.8 percentage points to 6.5% of revenue.

This improvement in profitability was driven by successful inventory management and lower fulfilment costs, added the company. In the end, Zalando’s second quarter net income grew to 95 million euros from 56.6 million euros in the same quarter a year ago.

In the three months to the end of June, the number of active customers also increased by 300,000 to 49.8 million from the end of the first quarter of 2024.

“Our B2C customers are excited by the quality brands we are adding, spending time with our new digital tools and content, and embracing our expanding lifestyle offerings in areas such as Sports, Designer and Beauty. We also recorded double-digit growth in B2B, demonstrating that both our growth vectors are delivering.”

In the second quarter of the current year, revenue in the B2C growth vector increased by 2.8% year-over-year to 2.4 billion euros and adjusted EBIT increased to 165.2 million euros from 129.3 million euros, representing an adjusted EBIT margin of 6.8% in the quarter.

Meanwhile, the B2B growth vector recorded a second quarter revenue growth of 10.3% year-over-year to 233.8 million euros, while adjusted EBIT fell to 7.1 million euros from 15.5 million euros in the same quarter of last year, representing an adjusted EBIT margin of 3.1%. The decrease was mainly caused by frontloaded investments.

Outlook

For the full year 2024, the German-based e-tailer continues to expect both GMV and revenue to grow in the range of 0% to 5% as compared to 2023. Adjusted EBIT is expected to be between 380 million and 450 million euros.

Management

It was also announced that Chief People Officer Astrid Arndt will serve a further four-year term starting on the 1^st of September 2024. However, Chief Financial Officer Sandra Dembeck has decided not to renew her contract beyond her current term (which ends on the 28^th of February 2025) to pursue a new career opportunity.

Image Credits: archdaily.com

Germany Companies ecommerce Fashion Online Quarter Results Results Zalando