(News Bulletin 247) – The furniture brand saw its revenues increase by 2.4% in France and by 5.9% across the group, a first since 2021. The stock is soaring on the Paris Stock Exchange.

For many years now, Maisons du Monde has suffered an erosion of its sales. The furniture brand has been weighed down by numerous headwinds, notably the high inflation of 2022-2023 and the rise in interest rates which have weighed on purchases of discretionary products. As well as in the real estate market, which is closely linked to the furniture market.

The company experienced a violent descent into stock market hell. Four years ago, the stock still exceeded 20 euros. At Thursday’s close, the price stood at exactly 2 euros.

This Friday, however, the action takes off, gaining 11.3% at the start of the afternoon after Maisons du Monde returned to growth in the third quarter, which had not happened to it since 2021, according to TP ICAP Midcap.

Over the period from July to the end of September, Maisons du Monde generated revenues of 224.7 million euros, reflecting growth of 4.6% on a published basis and 5.6% on a comparable basis.

“FINALLY!”, headlines TP ICAP Midcap in its note dedicated to this publication. “Such a return to growth seemed unexpected,” adds the research office.

>> Access our exclusive graphic analyses, and gain insight into the Trading Portfolio

A first positive signal

In detail, activity was driven by international activities (46.5% of sales) with an increase in revenue of 8% while growth was more moderate in France, with an increase of 2.4%.

“The group benefits from the early launch of the Fall Winter 2025 collections with an improvement in product availability, which demonstrates the efforts made around the ‘supply chain’ (supply chain, Editor’s note),” observes Oddo BHF.

By product category, decoration showed high momentum (+7.4%) while furniture recorded an increase of 2.2%.

“The good surprise comes from the growth in comparable data in stores (+8.9%) probably benefiting from the renovation of stores with traffic up 7%. Online sales are less dynamic but are returning to slight growth (+1%) after the hemorrhage of the first half,” develops TP ICAP Midcap.

“The last few quarters have been difficult, marked by a profound internal transformation carried out in a difficult macroeconomic context. We are starting to see the first effects on our sales, as evidenced by our positive results for the third quarter,” declared the CEO of Maisons du Monde, François Melchior, quoted in a press release. “However, we remain cautious due to the current uncertainties (…),” he added.

“It is obviously still too early to envisage a lasting return to growth but this quarter still marks a positive signal,” concludes TP ICAP Midcap, which recently switched to buying the value. “After a very complicated first half, management indicated that it saw the first signs of stabilization in June (France and online sales) and undoubtedly, the third quarter is a good surprise,” notes Oddo BHF.

“In a very complicated consumer context, the cost reduction program will help support profitability. Beyond that, management is continuing its transformation plan (63 stores remodeled at the end of 2024 and 100 expected at the end of 2025, extension and adaptation of the offer, overhaul of the customer experience, etc.) to relaunch the commercial dynamic,” recalls the broker.

“However, let us recognize that the extent of the restoration of margins remains, at this stage, uncertain”, decides Oddo BHF which remains “neutral” on the file.