HEMA ready for a fresh start with new management team

In recent months, in close consultation with the Supervisory Board, future HEMA CEO Saskia Egas Reparaz has put together her new management team and is ready for her start on 1 June. With the completion of the 2020 annual accounts, HEMA is also leaving the financial challenges of recent years behind it. The result in the year 2020 was negatively affected by, in particular, COVID-19 and the recapitalisation and financing costs. With the new shareholders, a healthy financial structure and shops that will soon be open again with no limitations, the new management team has the necessary stability and space to build with full force on HEMA's successful future.

Management team
HEMA is proud to present four new management team members who, under the leadership of Saskia Egas Reparaz, are ready to make an excellent start on 1 June and lead HEMA to new successes. The team consists of seven members in total, and is designed to provide an ideal mix of HEMA knowledge and experience, as well as new impulses from outside the company. Wilma Veldman (Chief Product Officer), Bas Verheijen (Chief Customer Officer), Machiel Lagerweij (Chief Operating Officer) and Pieter Heij (Chief Technology Officer) join the team from outside. Nadine Beister and Joost de Beijer will continue to serve in the new management team as Chief People Officer and Chief Financial Officer, respectively. Veldman and Lagerweij previously worked for HEMA and therefore know HEMA from both inside and out.

Financial results  2020 
- Net sales amounted to €1,064 million in 2020, compared to €1,259 million in 2019. The decrease is entirely attributable to the negative impact of COVID-19. - With sales doubling, HEMA performed strongly in the area of e-commerce. - Normalised EBITDA came in at €35.5 million, compared to €105 million in 2019. - The net loss amounted to €214.8 million - adjusted for one-off impairments this was €149.6 million - and was mainly driven by the impact of COVID-19, one-off restructuring costs and (re)financing costs. - The financial restructuring of HEMA in 2020 reduced HEMA's debt by more than 50% and interest costs by more than 80%. After the acquisition by the consortium Parcom and Mississippi Ventures, HEMA's debt further decreased to €200 million with an annual interest expense of less than €10 million. 

Operational results 2020
Last year was one of the most challenging years ever for HEMA, its employees and affiliated companies. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, HEMA has worked hard to continue to be the trusted place in the community where customers can shop and buy everyday products safely and efficiently. The shop closures caused by COVID-19 led to a 15.5% decrease in HEMA's net sales to €1,064 million. Compared to a year earlier, normalised EBITDA in 2020 decreased by 66.2% to €35.5 million.

With its strong multichannel strategy, a substantial expansion of logistics capacity and the use of shops as local warehouses according to the ship-from-store model, HEMA achieved record online sales in 2020. HEMA's sales with strategic partners such as Wehkamp, Jumbo, Franprix and Géant/Casino continued to increase in 2020. At the end of the 2020 financial year, 662 supermarkets of Jumbo, Franprix and Géant/Casino had a HEMA 'shop-in-shop' with household items, textiles, stationery, party supplies and clothing.

Successful restructuring of capital structure and new shareholders
Together with the former bondholders and then the new owners Parcom and Mississippi Ventures, HEMA accelerated the restructuring of the bond debt and replaced it with regular bank financing. This reduced the annual interest expense from €50 million to less than €10 million per year. The new capital structure and significantly reduced interest costs have laid a solid foundation for HEMA's future growth strategy.

Reopening on 28 April
In the first two weeks after the partial reopening of the shops in the Netherlands on 28 April, customers found their way back to the shops. Although the number of visitors is still limited due to the COVID-19 measures, the turnover in the shops is above the results of the same period in 2019. With this, a good first step has been taken, which gives confidence for the future. The new management team will therefore work with great energy and enthusiasm on the new HEMA strategy from 1 June.