The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.
(Questions from industry analysts are provided in full, but answers are omitted - download the transcript to see the full question-and-answer session)
Question: Volker Bosse - Baader Bank AG - Analyst
: I would have two questions, and I would like to start with Serbia, the new expansion country. If I got it right, for clarification, you said six to
eight stores is the potential which you see for your format in Serbia with the first store opening then in '27.
How many stores locations do you have already secured? You said something in the call, but I did not get it right. Perhaps you add that one
by one.
Question: Volker Bosse - Baader Bank AG - Analyst
: Okay. That's good.
Question: Volker Bosse - Baader Bank AG - Analyst
: This brings me to the second question and a bit of outlook to '26. Of course, it's too early to give already concrete guidance on '26. It's
more a general question. I would like to ask, first of all, number of store openings we can expect. I mean there is a kind of lead time.
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DECEMBER 19, 2025 / 7:30AM, HBH.DE - Q3 2026 HORNBACH Holding AG & Co KgaA Earnings Call
So you have already started the project, which will be finalized next year, obviously. And also related to '26, how do you look at the consumer
sentiment for '26 in general, especially also in the light of the infrastructure program, which is about to come in Germany.
Do you expect this to change the mood for the overall building industry, construction industry, but also for the private households to spend
more in renovation, et cetera, inspired by the infrastructure perhaps?
Question: Volker Bosse - Baader Bank AG - Analyst
:
Question: Miro Zuzak - JMS Invest - Analyst
: It's Miro from JMS Invest. I have a question regarding the store openings, the envisaged ones in Serbia. You mentioned EUR25 million to
EUR40 million of CapEx per store.
I understood if you want to open seven to eight stores in the upcoming future, can you please give us some picture on the CapEx level that
we should put in our models then going forward, the annual CapEx figure? Would that go up?
Question: Miro Zuzak - JMS Invest - Analyst
: I mean you opened four stores this year already, leading to a higher CapEx versus last year. would it first go down before it goes up again?
Or will it remain at these elevated levels?
Question: Miro Zuzak - JMS Invest - Analyst
: Okay. And a connected question to this one, because you, obviously, your stock is typically what people would consider a value stock. I
mean it's like very low valuation, high free cash flow yield and so on.
And if you put so much capital at work, probably there rise questions about economic value added and capital efficiency. Can you please
elaborate your thinking about that?
What's the level of cash returns or like returns on invested capital that you require to see from allocation in your planning at least in order
to give a green light for a new project?
Question: Miro Zuzak - JMS Invest - Analyst
: How do you think about that? What is your thinking about capital allocation and economic value added?
Question: Miro Zuzak - JMS Invest - Analyst
: Just two quick ones. The first one regarding your adjustments. There have been very little adjustments this year so far, like last year. In last
year in Q4, the adjustments were around EUR17 million.
From today's perspective, as we are already now in the fourth quarter, probably you have more visibility on that. What is the level of
adjustments that we should envisage for the current year?
Question: Miro Zuzak - JMS Invest - Analyst
: Okay. And the second one would be on the minorities. Typically, they were around 3% of the adjusted Baumarkt EBIT. And in Q3, it was
really zero. Was it more like did you change anything in the ownership? So is there any change in minorities?
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