“We hope not to suffer losses in this difficult year, in other words to end the year above breakeven,” Domo’s Marketing Manager, Gabriela Mandrea, told Business Standard.
The company posted some €4 million in net profit last year, and net sales exceeding €200 mln. Regarding sales registered in the first half of 2009, Mandrea said that these fell by up to 20 percent year-on-year. “As of the second half of 2008, the growth rate of the upward trend began sliding, and this evolution continued in the first six months of this year, indicating a decreasing rate, which shows a drop in sales by less than one fifth,” the company’s manager said.
In the first quarter of this year, Domo sales on each unit were 80 percent of the value registered in Q1 2008. White goods continue to be the most stable and profitable category, according to company officials, while electronics and IT&C products posted slight drops.
The household appliance, electronic, and IT&C product retail market, along with the auto and real estate markets, is one of the most affected by the current financial crisis, with drops exceeding 40 percent in the first six months of this year, according to market players. Domo expects stagnation, or perhaps a slight rebound in the second half of the year, depending on the relaunch of consumer loans. The main players on a household appliance, electronic, and IT&C product retail market, valued at some €1 billion annually, are Altex, Flamingo, and Domo.