(News Bulletin 247) – The designer and online distributor of furniture and decorative items is plunging on the Paris Stock Exchange after revealing sharply lower sales over the first three months of its staggered 2024-2025 financial year ending at the end of July.

It’s not a good time to be a furniture player right now. On Thursday, Roche Bobois published its half-yearly accounts that were down sharply, and lowered its outlook for the rest of 2024, citing “a less buoyant market context for furniture.”

This Friday, it is Miliboo, a more modest player in this same sector, which is paying the price for investors’ distrust. The Haute-Savoie specialist in the design and sale of “trendy” furniture, which can be adapted and personalised on the Internet, is down 15% this Friday afternoon, falling back to its lowest levels since the end of February at 1.65 euros.

Sales down

Miliboo has indeed revealed a sluggish activity over the first three months of its 2024-2025 financial year ending at the end of July. The company has suffered a 13% drop in turnover over one year, to 9.3 million euros between May and the end of July 2024.

Sales in France, which represent 84% of Miliboo’s turnover, amounted to 7.8 million euros, which marks a decrease of 13.2% compared to the first quarter of 2023-2024, which constituted a high basis for comparison.

“This development is explained by the cyclical drop in volumes sold, with the average price remaining very close to that of the first quarter of the previous financial year,” says Miliboo.

International activity remains well oriented, increasing by 4.7% to 1.45 million euros. The group is benefiting from its development on the Internet in Germany, Belgium and Italy.

“Our start to the financial year reflects a sluggish market, affected by the real estate crisis, particularly in new construction, and by sluggish household consumption,” explains its manager Guillaume Lachenal.

An uncertain context

Management had made no secret of this hardening of the furniture market and had shown caution after announcing a return to profits at the end of its 2023-2024 financial year last July.

Miliboo did not commit to providing any figures. A few weeks later, the furniture specialist has no more visibility, citing an “economic context that remains uncertain”. However, it hopes to gradually revitalize its sales by relying in particular on its “best sellers”, its flagship products.

The company also says it wants to take into account the price sensitivity of its customers, but without sacrificing its gross margin, while at the same time maintaining rigorous management of its operational expenses.