Maisons du Monde seeks sales boost from expansion in Europe and online

(Reuters) – French furniture and home decor company Maisons Du Monde hopes to increase its sales by almost 60% from 2020 levels by 2025 as it opens stores in new European markets and expands its digital marketplace.

The company, in which Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky’s investment fund and activist fund Teleios hold stakes, said on Monday it would target sales of 1.8-1.9 billion euros ($2.08-$2.20 billion) by 2025, up from 1.2 billion last year and 1.3 billion it hopes to generate in 2021.

It said a larger digital presence should help to increase its profit margin to around 11% from the 9.0%-9.5% it forecast for this year.

The company, which ramped up its digital platforms during the pandemic, is planning to expand its online and click-in-store sales to 60% of total revenues by 2025 from about half currently.

Speaking to reporters on the company’s capital markets day, Chief Executive Julie Walbaum said the group aimed to generate around half of sales internationally by 2025, from about 45% at the moment.

It hopes to make 20% of sales from new European markets such as Germany, Switzerland and the UK, and open between five and 15 net stores annually over the four years, mostly outside of France.

Walbaum said the company would increase the portion of products it manufactures inside Europe to better meet environmental and workplace standards.

It plans to launch a corporate social responsibility label by next spring, which would cover two in five of its products by 2025.

($1 = 0.8655 euros)

(Reporting by Sarah Morland. Editing by Jane Merriman)