PARIS – Douglas Group continues preparing for a potential initial public offering.
The German beauty retailer updated capital markets on proceedings during a call with financial analysts Thursday morning, which focused on its fiscal first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2023.
“There’s clearly no decision on an IPO,” said Mark Langer, Douglas Group’s chief financial officer, adding that would be decided by company shareholders, rather than its management. “If there is an IPO, there is a very high likelihood that the primary proceeds of the IPO would be used for restructuring and reduction on the financial debt of the company.”
At the end of the first quarter, net financial debt was 3.06 billion euros.
Press reports have suggested an IPO could come as early as March and that Douglas Group’s valuation would be northward of 7 billion euros.
Langer said he could not be specific on an IPO’s timing.
“We are clearly on more advanced stages of preparation, but that does not automatically lead to the conclusion that it will be executed in the first half of fiscal year ’24,” he said. “Clearly, there is an increased likelihood, as the company has prepared for such an optionality.”
Nine years ago, when the group was called Douglas AG, it was sold to private equity firm CVC Capital Partners. The news in 2015 came just days after Douglas said it would re-enter the stock market after two years of restructuring and streamlining.
Douglas is now formally called Douglas Group.
“We decided we want to make a bigger distinction between the group and the retail brands,” explained Sander van der Laan, Douglas Group chief executive officer, making reference to its portfolio that includes retailers Douglas, Nocibé, Parfumsdreams and Niche-Beauty. “We’ve decided on a new corporate brand. This is not the product – this is the corporation, the company.”
In sync with that, the company has launched a new web site, douglas.group.
In the company’s first quarter, sales gained 8 percent in reported terms to 1.56 billion euros, while on a like-for-like basis, they advanced 7.5 percent. Omnichannel growth was robust, with net store sales advancing 6.7 percent and net e-commerce sales rising 10.7 percent.
Douglas Group’s net income gained 10.6 percent to 125.2 million euros.
