In the letter from the board of directors, Soennecken eG (Overath) looks back on a successful year 2022: Despite the volatile market environment, the cooperative has grown in all areas. “The market volume in the stationery market has declined by 19% since 2019,” notes Dr. Benedikt Erdmann, CEO of Soennecken. “During this period, Soennecken has grown by more than 9%. So together we have gained market share.” The cooperative recorded significant sales effects through new members, but also through price increases.
Good results in 2022 allow special distribution
Soennecken is satisfied with the result for 2022 before distribution and taxes: Of the total amount of €11.1 million. €8.4 million or 76% is attributable to the distribution and €2.7 million to profit before taxes. The distribution includes a special distribution in the form of a goods refund of 0.2% or €1.3 million on all sales. Soennecken expects that the special distribution will remain a one-off measure due to the extraordinarily good results for 2022.
Subdued development of the markets in Q1 2023
After growth in the past year, Soennecken has observed a significant slowdown in the stationery market since March 2023. The cooperative sees the causes in opposing price effects, restrained demand, high inventories from manufacturing companies and continued strained raw material markets. Soennecken therefore expects that the crowding out and consolidation tendencies in the stationery market will continue to increase across all levels of trade.
The cooperative describes the start of the retail trade in the 2023 financial year as successful. As of February 2023, Soennecken had a cumulative plus of 9% in the contract supplier business and a plus of 16% in the shop sales of its members.
In the furnishings market, Soennecken recorded a cumulative increase of around 11% in the first quarter of 2023. The growth is based on the project and tendering business as well as on the acquisition of new members and suppliers, according to the shareholder information.
For the current 2023 financial year, the cooperative is cautiously optimistic overall and expects slight sales growth and stable earnings.
General Assembly and Annual Report
Soennecken eG presents projects and results from the individual business units in detail in the editorial part of its 2022 annual report, which can be viewed online at www.soennecken.de
The report highlights measures for further development in the design of modern working environments, for efficient merchandise management, an up-and-coming retail trade and successful digitization.