BETER BED : realises 9.2% lower revenue and considerably lower operating profit in first quarter 2013

• Revenue under pressure due to lower consumer confidence and extreme winter weather.
• Improved purchasing conditions contribute to rise in gross profit.
• Cost reductions according to plan.
• Operating profit falls by more than 35% to ? 8.0 million (2012: ? 12.3 million).
• Net profit decreases by nearly 37% to ? 5.6 million (2012: ? 8.9 million).
• Further reduction in the number of stores in Spain is expected.

Beter Bed Holding realised revenue totalling ? 98.5 million in the first quarter of 2013. This represents a 9.2% decrease compared to the first quarter of 2012 (? 108.5 million). Operating profit fell by 35.2% to ? 8 million (first quarter 2012: ? 12.3 million). It was possible to compensate the lower revenue in part through improved gross profit on a percentage basis and lower operating expenses. Net profit amounted to ? 5.6 million and was consequently 36.8% lower than net profit in the first quarter of 2012 (? 8.9 million).

Key Figures First Quarter 2013

Ton Anbeek, Chief Executive Officer:
'In line with our expectations, the first quarter of 2013 was characterised by far fewer visitors to our stores due to further deteriorating consumer confidence in the Netherlands and Spain. Prolonged winter weather, primarily in Germany (37 days with more than five centimetres of snowfall compared to nine days in the first quarter of 2012) and to a lesser degree in the Netherlands, played a significant negative role. This combined with a lower order portfolio at the end of the fourth quarter of 2012 in the Netherlands, caused revenue to fall by more than 9%. In Spain, the economic outlook is deteriorating and unemployment is rising. As a result we will have to reduce the number of stores in Spain further. A stringent purchasing policy and other measures improved gross profit on a percentage basis and the continuing strong focus on cost control caused expenses to fall by a further ? 0.7 million in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012.'

First quarter 2013
Revenue at comparable stores decreased by 10.8% in the first quarter of 2013. The cause of this decrease is, however, different in our two main markets. While the Netherlands primarily suffered from a lack of consumer confidence, Germany faced prolonged extreme winter weather.

Revenue at comparable stores in Germany fell by 8.2%. The decrease in revenue in the Netherlands amounted to 12.3%. Total revenue in Germany decreased by 3.5%. The drop in total revenue in the Netherlands amounted to 15.2%.

Revenue at comparable stores in Spain fell by 49.8%. There was one store closure in Spain in the first quarter of 2013. The total decrease in revenue in Spain in the first quarter totalled 48.2%.

The change in revenue for the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012 is as follows:

Netherlands          -15.2%                                  
Germany                -3.5%      
Austria                  +8.4%                                                                                                
Switzerland             0.0%                                                                                                      
Spain                   -48.2%
Belgium                -21.2%

Total                      -9.2%

A total of 21 stores were opened and 20 were closed in the first quarter of 2013. This brings the total number of stores at the end of March 2013 to 1,220. The new store openings were primarily in Germany.

The total number of stores at the end of March 2013 is as follows:

Financial
Revenue decreased by 9.2% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012. In Germany the first quarter of 2013 had three fewer shopping days than the first quarter of 2012 (downward pressure on revenue of 3.9%), and in the Netherlands two shopping days less (downward pressure on revenue of 2.6%).

Gross profit during this period rose by 0.6 percentage points to 56.4% compared to the same period of last year. Gross profit rose as a result of factors including improved purchasing conditions.

Operating expenses decreased from ? 48.2 million in 2012 to ? 47.6 million in 2013. Expenses in the first quarter of 2013 also included an amount of ? 0.2 million of one-off costs connected with a reorganisation of the Beter Bed Benelux head office in the Netherlands.

The development of expenses is furthermore in line with the cost-cutting measures introduced in the autumn of 2012. Average expenses per store fell by 2.4% in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012.

The total number of stores at the end of March 2013 amounted to 1,220. A net total of one store was added in the first quarter. Matratzen Concord stores were closed primarily in the Netherlands and Austria. As a result of the lower revenue, total operating expenses as a percentage of revenue rose from 44.5% (at the end of March 2012) to 48.3% at the end of March 2013.

Operating profit of ? 8.0 million or 8.1% of revenue was realised in the first quarter of 2013 (first quarter 2012: ? 12.3 million or 11.4% of revenue).

Net profit in the first quarter of 2013 amounted to ? 5.6 million (first quarter 2012: ? 8.9 million). Earnings per share in the first quarter of 2013 totalled ? 0.26 (first quarter 2012: ? 0.41).

Solvency amounted to 57.0% at the end of March 2013 (compared to 57.9% at the end of March 2012 and 50.4% at year-end 2012).

Outlook for first six months of 2013 Due to the virtually unchanged economic climate in the majority of countries in which Beter Bed operates, a weak start in the second quarter, a lower order portfolio and a decreasing, but still relatively strong comparative basis in Germany we expect a continuation of the negative revenue trend for the second quarter.
We furthermore do not expect any substantial improvement in the economic climate in Spain in the short- and mid term. This is why we intend to reduce the number of stores in Spain further in the second and third quarter of 2013. Stores that do not contribute to profit will be closed. Our current expectation is that ultimately a total of 30 profitable stores will remain open. We estimate that the costs of this restructuring will amount to approximately ? 1.2 million.
Based on the aforementioned developments, we expect operating profit, excluding the one-off expenses for Spain, on a half-year basis to be considerably lower than the amount realised in 2012.

Profile
Beter Bed Holding N.V. operates in the European bedroom furnishings market. Its activities include retail trade through a total of 1,220 stores at the end March of 2013 that operate via the chains Beter Bed (active in the Netherlands and Belgium), Matratzen Concord (active in Germany, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands and Belgium), El Gigante del Colchón (active in Spain), BeddenREUS and Slaapgenoten (both active in the Netherlands) and Schlafberater.com (active in Germany). Beter Bed Holding is also active in the field of developing and wholesaling branded products in the bedroom furnishing sector in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, Turkey and the United Kingdom via its subsidiary DBC International. Beter Bed Holding N.V. achieved net revenue of ? 397.3 million in 2012. More than 65% of the group's net revenue is realised outside the Netherlands. The company has been listed on the NYSE Euronext Amsterdam since 1996 and is included in the Amsterdam Small Cap Index.
  

For more information, please contact: Ton Anbeek, Chief Executive Officer
Tel. +31 (0)413 338819 / Fax +31 (0)413 338829 / Mob. +31 (0)6 53662838
E-mail: ton.anbeek@beterbed.nl:
mailto:ton.anbeek@beterbed.nl / Website: www.beterbedholding.com:
http://www.beterbedholding.com/

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