JYSK achieved a record EBIT result of DKK4.5b (c.£516m) for its 2020/21 financial year, despite the various pandemic pressures arrayed against it.
Turnover grew by +7% to DKK32.6b, while the EBIT level was up +21% YoY.
"For JYSK as well as for other companies, it was a very challenging year because of the many restrictions we encountered around European countries," says JYSK's president and CEO, Jan Bøgh.
“Our biggest market is Germany, where JYSK has almost 1000 stores, and it was also one of the countries where the closure of non-food retail lasted the longest. This means that turnover in Germany decreased compared to the previous year. On the other hand, we have significantly increased turnover in Scandinavia, England, Ireland, Belgium and a number of countries in Eastern and Central Europe, and this has more than offset the decline in Germany."
According to Jan, this also means that some markets have a huge potential for growth in the current financial year, while others will find it difficult to match their current turnover levels.
“There is no doubt that in a number of countries we have benefited from the fact that customers generally focused on their housing and spent money on their home, which would normally have been spent on, for instance, travel or experiences," continues Jan. "This also means that in some countries we are up against so-called 'forward buying', where customers have bought furniture earlier than planned. These customers will probably not buy new garden furniture or a new bed again this year.
"Conversely, there are also countries where, due to closed stores, we sold less in the last financial year, which means that we have a good starting point for increasing turnover."
JYSK has no plans to reduce investment or drop its plan to have all stores updated to the newest store concept before the end of August 2024.
“We can see that our new store concept attracts more customers, and therefore we should of course continue our investments," says Jan. "The biggest challenge so far has been to get the necessary materials, both for rebuilding existing stores and establishing new ones. This is due to the global challenges with a lack of raw materials and logistics capacity. However, we have an expectation that this will improve in the coming years."
The retailer has also announced plans to train 23,000 store employees in mattress and associated sleep products sales via its Sleep Academy, which consists of two training modules of several working days, and will take place every year in all JYSK countries.
“No-one has ever become world champion without lots of practice," says retail operational director, Michael Olesen. "That is why we decided to have JYSK Sleep Academy, so we can make sure that all of our store employees have the knowledge to sell the customer the right mattress taking individual needs into account."
