Retail sales of electrical / electronic home appliances started to rise in the period 2017-2020 after several years of declining trend, according to the results of a study prepared by the financial studies department of ICAP SA.
Large multinational companies of international trade had already penetrated the domestic market of electrical / electronic home appliance retail. The networks of organized large chain stores have expanded rapidly over the last twenty years. However, the recession that has prevailed in recent years has led to the closure of several traditional chains, while the large chains that have remained on the market in recent years, in the context of streamlining their costs and overall corporate restructuring, merging stores and shrinking their network. Also, big changes took place on the side of purchasing groups and their networks
Recent important developments in the industry have been the expansion of a large chain of computer stores into the marketing of electrical home appliances, as well as the change in the ownership status of a large chain of stores in the industry.
The competition between the companies in the sector in question is particularly intense. Both the squeezing of the profit margin and the “price war”, combined with the policy of facilities and offers, have resulted in the further aggravation of the competitive climate.
The demand for the examined products comes mainly from three main parameters: the replacement due to defects and age, the creation of new households and the appearance of products that incorporate new technologies. An important factor influencing the demand for electrical appliances is the rate of addition of new homes.
Stamatina Panteleiou, Director of Economic Sector Studies at ICAP, points out that the size of the market for electrical and electronic home appliance chains moved downwards in the period 2009-2016 (as a result of the rapid deterioration of the domestic economy and the shrinking income). recording an average annual rate of decline of 6% over the period. Market recovery is recorded in the period 2017-2019 with an average annual growth rate of about 6%. For 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic had the effect of halting the growth rate of this market compared to 2019. The decline in physical store sales (after the outbreak of the pandemic) was largely offset by its explosive growth penetration of e-commerce (e-commerce). The industry’s e-sales have been on the rise in recent years, with a share of around 5% in 2016 estimated at 18% in 2020.
According to Konstantinos Paleologos, ICAP Financial Studies Manager and regarding the composition of the sales of the industry chains, the examined market in 2020 mainly concerned White Appliances and Air Conditioners at a rate of 35%, followed by the Fixed – Mobile Telephony and Informatics equipment with share about 30%. The Audio and Video Devices occupied a percentage of 18%, the Small Devices a share of 13%, while the participation of other products is estimated at the remaining 4%. The coronavirus pandemic resulted in a significant increase in sales of mobile and IT equipment.
Within the framework of the study, a grouped balance sheet of companies in the sector was prepared based on a sample of private chain companies, for which balance sheets were available for the five years 2015-2019. Total corporate assets showed a cumulative increase of 55% in the period under review, while equity increased cumulatively by 9.6%. Medium-term liabilities & provisions increased significantly over the same period (cumulative increase 423%), while the increase for short-term liabilities was much smaller (25.7%).
The total sales of the electrical / electronic appliance chain chains recorded a cumulative increase of 25.1% in the five years 2015-2019. The gross profit increased (by 21.3%) in the same period, while the increase for the operating result was also very significant. Finally, profits (before tax) are recorded in the five years 2015-2019.
The gross profit margin for all the companies in the sample did not change significantly during the period 20162019, while the average EBITDA margin of the examined companies in the sector receives a positive sign from 2016
SOURCE: ΑΜΝΑ
