Even an unusually cold and snow-covered start to the year 2013 cannot stop EUROBAUSTOFF Handelsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, Bad Nauheim from remaining on the path to success. For nine years in a row, it has now increased its centrally invoiced purchasing volume of 5.123 billion EUR to what is now 5.367 billion EUR.
This represents an improvement of 4.76 %. The external sales of the partners now amount to 13 billion EUR. In this way the Cooperation has been able to strengthen its leading role amongst the European Cooperations of medium-sized company-orientated specialist dealers for construction materials, timber and tiles.
“In 2013, our 500 partners did an excellent job at their 1,450 specialist retail locations, and thus ensured the success of the Cooperation headquarters”, says Ulrich Wolf, Chairman of the EUROBAUSTOFF Management Board to the specialist press. “Our partners made up for the drop in sales from the first 3 months and subsequently purchased via the headquarters for more than half a billion EUR each for six months in a row”.
In addition to this, wholesale trade contributes to more than three quarters of the purchasing volume. This segment, consisting of six Specialist Groups, amongst others, has crossed the 4 billion EUR border for the first time. The Shell construction materials/wall building materials product division is in an excellent position reporting an increase of more than 16 % for 2013 after an increase of 6 % in 2012. This is a clear sign of growth in the new construction business.
Last year, the Roof and facade segment, which achieved the highest turnover, was affected most severely and for the longest period of time by the capricious weather conditions. In many places, the in part severe local declines in sales could only be compensated for in the last quarter. This segment got back into black figures again in November.
The Retail trade segment is in an excellent position: With an increase of 4.93 %, it lies clearly above the industry average. According to BHB information, the development in this sector lay at minus 3.4 % in the first three quarters. The Machinery, Timber in the garden, Decorative wood and Hardware segments contributed most to the success of EUROBAUSTOFF.
For years, it has been a matter of course for the Tiles segment to grow in contrast to the general trend in the sector. An excellent distribution policy, modern exhibition areas and the exclusive private label Cerabella represent important guarantees for success. The increase by more than 8 % also enabled tiles experts to acquire additional market shares in the Cooperation in 2013.
The consolidation phase for the timber segment (excluding Timber in the garden, Floor/wall/ceiling and Timber elements) has been completed and the supplier structure has been optimised for the future. The new, alternative basic conditions give the Cooperation a new image and have generated increasing interest in the Cooperation amongst other timber dealers. In 2013, the timber segment achieved the highest growth rate with an increase of 9 %. Timber trade, Timber imports, Planed goods and Wood-based materials even saw double-digit growth rates. For 2014, further double-digit growth rates can be expected as major specialist timber dealers such as Holz Richter, Lindlar, Hansa Holz, Bremen and Holzwerk Stumpp, Eningen became new partners of EUROBAUSTOFF.
“Our EUROBAUSTOFF specialist dealers have been extremely successful on the market for years, as can be observed through our central sales figures,” says the Chairman of the Management Board, taking stock of the Cooperation development. He also provides an outlook on the new year, in which the Cooperation will start with 488 partners (507 in the previous year) at 1,439 locations (1,430) in eight European countries (Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Italy, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands). “We expect 2014, too, to be a good year for the construction sector. Full order books in the crafts trade and the building permit figures from the Federal Office of Statistics indicate this trend. The main reason for currently expecting low growth for our purchasing volume is that ZEB Paderborn, who had been the second-largest partner in terms of purchasing turnover, has left the Cooperation. However, we are sure that we will be able to compensate for the missing purchase turnover through internal growth, realistic increases in sales and through the admission of new partners.”
