(BFM Stock Exchange) – The specialist in the distribution of household appliances and cultural goods announced that he wanted to bring his operating margin to more than 3% in 2030 against 1.7% in 2024. The company also intends to release 1.2 billion cash in five years and it engages on a floor dividend.

When Fnac Darty launched his last strategic plan “Everyday”, in February 2021, few observers could predict what the group was about to cross.

“We came out of the covid, it was said that e-commerce was going to crush everything, that no one was going to travel. No one imagined a war at the door of Europe, no one imagined the inflation crisis,” recalled this Wednesday, June 11, the Director General of Society, Enrique Martinez. This environment has weighed on household consumption and, by ricochet, on sales of discretionary goods, such as household appliances, cultural products and tech, the heart of Fnac Darty’s activity.

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Its sales suffered, with income which passed under 8 billion euros in 2022. This bar has not been crossed since. Last year the turnover amounted to 7.9 billion euros, excluding the transforming acquisition of the Italian Unieuro which valued the equity of Transalpine at 249 million euros.

This operation allowed Fnac Darty to pass the proportion of its sales outside France from 20% to 40%, bringing around 2.6 billion euros in income. Profitability was also under pressure, with a common operating margin that fell 2.3% in 2024, against 3.4% in 2021 and 4% in 2019.

The action has dropped by more than 30% since February 2021, even if it is advisable to qualify. Fnac Darty has relatively well limited the breakage compared to other groups of discretionary goods, such as Maisons du Monde (-83%) or the German Ceconomy (-40%), which also owns 22%of the capital of Fnac Darty.

The environment is not much more promising this year. “For 2025, visibility remains limited, in particular in France, due to persistent uncertainty on consumer spending trends”, regretted Oddo BHF in a recent note.

“Beyond Everyday”

Making bad fortune good heart, Fnac Darty unveiled this Wednesday, June 11, his new strategic plan called “Beyond Everyday” on Wednesday, June 11, as well as his new medium -term financial targets, on the occasion of a day dedicated to investors.

For the time being, this great oral is a success. The Fnac Darty action took 8.8% at lunchtime this Wednesday, June 11.

Fnac Darty said it targeted an operating margin of more than 3%by 2030. This represents a significant improvement compared to 2024. Last year, the current operating margin set up at 2.3% outside Unieuro and 2% by integrating the accounts of Uniero over twelve months. The actual operating margin has registered 1.9% outside UNIEURO and 1.7% by integrating Unieuro.

The company also plans to release a cumulative operational cash flow of more than 1.2 billion euros over the period 2025-2030. “The group will also be able to carry out M&A operations (business buyouts, editor’s note) or pay a special dividend if its results allow it,” said the company.

“We do not prohibit ourselves and we see a potential for consolidating certain markets,” assured Enrique Martinez.

Regarding its capital allowance policy, Fnac Darty has decided to define a floor dividend of 1 euro per share and a minimum distribution rate of 40% of the net profit. Under 2024, the company had precisely paid a coupon of 1 euro, representing a distribution rate of 40%.

The targets communicated by the group “seem coherent to us even if slightly above our expectations”, commented TP ICAP Midcap in a note.

Four million targeted subscriptions

To achieve its objectives, Fnac Darty will in particular operate a surface renovation by renovating more than 200 stores while 150 will be open by 2030. The company also intends to optimize its offer to gain market share and improve its profitability, by developing the products and services of segments deemed promising such as “Beauty Tech”, entertainment and cultural exclusivities.

The “BTOB”, that is to say its activity within companies is called upon to progress, the group aimed at a multiplication by 1.4 of its income in these activities at 400 million euros in 2030.

Enrique Martinez also explained that society was going to “transform the supply” of nature and discoveries “an important heritage brand” but “whose” model was strongly disrupted “. This brand must in particular face the competition of online Chinese actors like TEMU.

Above all, Fnac Darty will speed up the reorientation of his model towards the subscription. The “Darty Max” offers, which offers unlimited maintenance and repair of devices for 11.99 euros per month, and “Fnac Digital Life”, which offers services such as tech or Internet protection for 9.99 euros per month, identified 1.9 million subscribers in February 2025, against 500,000 in 2021.

The group aims at 4 million subscribers, all services combined by 2030. The company intends in particular to expand its markets by going, for example, towards energy.

Loyal

“The services are at the heart of our economic model,” said Enrique Martinez. These subscription services “create recurrence, loyalty, satisfaction” and make “a huge difference” for customers certainly attached to the brand “by the heart but also by relatives, the Wallet (the portfolio, editor’s note)”, continued the manager.

Inside these services, Fnac Darty expects the number of repaired products from 2.6 million to 3.5 million by 2030.

For TP ICAP MIDCAP, the rise of these services should be the cause of the bulk of the improvement in the profitability expected by the company.

The services will count for 30% of the gross margin of Fnac Darty in 2030 against 25% currently. Cost optimization, encrypted at 300 million euros out of 2025-2030, must also help increase profitability. As well as synergies of 20 million euros expected in full year on the redemption of Uniero, especially on common purchases.

“We are also expecting more details on the group’s efforts concerning the customer experience, an issue which seems essential to ensure the success of the group in the coming years,” also wrote TP ICAP Midcap in a note published on Wednesday morning.