Ladies and gentlemen, good evening and welcome to the conference call for the Presentation of Fnac Darty 2025 Half Year results. Mr. Enrique Martinez, Fnac Darty Chief Executive Officer and Jean-Brieuc Le Tinier, Chief Financial Officer, will be our speakers today. The floor is yours.
Thank you very much. Good evening, everyone. Thank you for being here. We're here to present and comment the 2025 half-year results. First, the agenda, slide three. Jean-Brieuc is going to detail the results of the half-year. This is the first half-year since the Italian integration of UniEuro. We will then comment on our foresight, our perspectives, etc., and our outlooks, and we will take your questions at the end. On slide five, we are going to comment the financial results on a like-for-like basis versus 2024, which means that we are going to include the integration of UniEuro and the deconsolidation of the ticketing business.
This is the new scope of Fnac Darty following the acquisition of UniEuro. First half sales are encouraging, and they reflect the strong sales momentum of the second quarter against the backdrop, which unfortunately remains rather lackluster, notably because the recovery in consumer spending and funds continues to lag behind. In other European countries, we can see the first signs of a recovery, but it is lagging behind in France. Gross margin rose by 60 basis points, reaching 28.9%. It is mostly driven by the good sales momentum of our service activities in all geographies. This is a key element of our strategic ambition. As you know, it is at the heart of the Beyond Everyday Plan, and I will say a few words about that later. I will mention the main components. Our EBITDA improved slightly at EUR 189 million for the half-year.
You see the ROC which is negative, as usual, at - EUR 56 million for this half-year. This is mostly due to the high seasonality of the group's business and the EBIT margin, which is mostly coming in the second half of the year. Moving on to slide six, a few words about the key macro trends on the revenue. If we start with services, double-digit growth, very good momentum in all of our perimeters, in all of our geographies. This is a strong contributor to the group's margin over the period. Editorial or cultural products benefited from a great momentum, linked specifically to the launch of the Switch 2 gaming console at the beginning of June 2025. We only have a few weeks of activities involving the Switch 2.
As you know, for years, the group has been investing a lot in order to be seen as a key and credible stakeholder in this category, and I believe that we are starting to bear fruit of these efforts because for the first time in France and in a few other countries, but most specifically in France, we are the top seller for the Switch 2 console. More than 50,000 units have been sold since the launch. This is a great achievement for the team. It's a very good start, and it really bodes well for the future of this perimeter. Small electrical appliances also have a strong growth trajectory. It is buoyed by innovations. You see it in the various categories. You have the LED masks that are becoming quite interesting. You also have the air fryers and the robot vacuum cleaners.
Strong momentum also for anything that has to do with heat. Fans, for example, which really, really drove this category for this half-year. Large electrical appliances are buoyed by air conditioners. We were really able to seize this opportunity, and as you know, the summer was very, very hot, especially compared with last year. You have a series of summer heat waves that really buoyed the activity. Something that is interesting, we are looking at a rebound, a recovery in the real estate market, and obviously we have more and more sales of fitted kitchens. Especially Darty Cuisine is becoming a more and more important brand, and we are gaining market shares. A good trend for this excellent half-year. Also diversification, so growth of toilet stationery categories. We mentioned the Pokémon cards, which are very, very popular with our young customers. A lot of business opportunities, as usual. Slide seven.
We mentioned it briefly. You know that having a stable and sustainable growth, a robust growth of the web activity is one of our key ambitions. The first half of the year was particularly good. We have online sales that rose sharply by 7.7%, and they represent 21% of total group sales. Traffic grew as well, and it is quite interesting to see the momentum of the marketplace where we see the contribution of our fulfillment activities because there is more and more volume that is being fulfilled by western in France, but in other countries soon. Major contributions of repackaged or yes, repackaged products, e-commerce, and repackaged goods are particularly important. We are one of the only stakeholders able to benefit from both. Omnichannel sales account for almost 50% of the group's online sales. It's very important. They are less developed at UniEuro, but we will address that later.
I imagine that there will be some opportunities in the future. We'll tell you about the outlook. Generally speaking, even with a lower contribution from UniEuro, we are still close to our target of 50%. Moving on to slide number eight. If you were not able to follow our announcement on the 11th of June, we presented our new strategic plan for 2030 Beyond Everyday. It was rather well received, very well received, actually. It focuses on our... It showed a very clear set of priorities and roadmap. We want to become a benchmark player in high-value-added products. While remaining rather popular in our existing markets, we want to accelerate the rollout of subscription-based services for the home with two different brands. We also want circularity, so all repaired, repackaged products, etc. This is our model for the future. Obviously, we want to set market standards in omnichannel customer experience.
There is a strong focus to come on an in-store experience. The shops are going to change to be adjusted in order to perform even better and to offer a better experience to improve also our digital experience. The third avenue is about deploying the group's expertise with partners in new geographies. We want to develop our business beyond our final customers, and we want to offer something to our industrial partners. This is a rather ambitious plan. It is already ongoing because there is a whole onboarding phase that already started. There is a whole roadmap that is being rolled out. We will regularly tell you more about initiatives, about things that are going to be done. The plan is already well alive and being rolled out. Now, a few words before giving the floor to Jean-Brieuc . A few words about Italy.
The first half-year of integration, we are very happy with the way things have been organized. Things have been happening. There's a technical integration and human integration of the UniEuro staff. I sometimes feel that we've been working together for many, many years, which is an excellent sign of a proper integration. We see that this integration is going to bear fruit. It is going to enable us to ramp up our business abroad, not only France and Italy, but we're also going to bring all countries together. We were able to confirm our objective of EUR 20 million in synergies by the end of 2026. We can confirm this initiative or this target. There are things that are starting to be formalized, so to speak, and for 2026, we are expecting to go even beyond EUR 20 million in synergies.
This is a very strong and dynamic half-year as well for the Italian market. There is a strong transformation project to transform the whole supply chain and logistics chain, the opening of a second large warehouse near Roma, more than 50,000 square meters that is already operational. We already opened it. This is a way to improve the quality of service for UniEuro. It is also a way to strengthen its presence in the north, in the center and in the south of Italy, center and south. This is a great opportunity to continue to ramp up our business, ramp up our performance, and develop the network. There are two main platforms at the moment, one near Rome, Colaferro, and one Piacenza, close to Firenze, and another one, Carini near Palermo, to serve Sicily, etc. There are 33 home delivery centers to deliver goods to the customers.
We have the optimal structure to address the Italian market. We're in very good conditions. This is all I wanted to say. That's it in a nutshell. I am now going to give the floor to Jean-Brieuc, who will tell us more, and I will give a conclusion at the end.
Thank you, Enrique. Good evening, everyone. Let me start by reminding you that following the transformative acquisition of UniEuro, the group has been reporting its financial information since early 2025 across two geographic zones, France and the Rest of Europe, which includes Italy, Belgium, Luxembourg, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland. This new segmentation gives a clear picture of the group's growing European footprint. Compared to the pro forma data we discussed during our full year and Q1 2025 results, we also decided to take into account the deconsolidation of the ticketing business. From now on, I'll be commenting on the evolution of our results based on 2024 comparable figures, which include UniEuro and exclude ticketing. To ensure proper comparison, you'll find restated historical data in the appendix to today's press release. Let's look at revenue first on slide 11.
We're pleased with the Group's performance, which is fully in line with our expectations. Q2 was particularly strong with solid momentum across all geographies. On a like-for-like basis, revenue grew by 2.5% in France and 1.5% in the Rest of Europe. Gaming was a strong driver, as Enrique said, especially with the successful launch of the new Switch gaming console, and weather conditions also played a very favorable role in boosting home appliance sales. This performance confirms the group's ability to gain market share by supporting product launches and meeting customer expectations effectively. In total, Group revenue for H1 2025 stands at EUR 4.5 billion, up 0.7% like-for-like. By channel, as Enrique mentioned earlier, online sales grew by nearly 8%, now accounting for 21% of total revenue, with half of that driven by Click & Collect. By category, trends are broadly similar across the different countries.
Services continue to grow at a double-digit rate in most geographies, driven by the expansion of our offerings, including Darty Max and Fnac Digital Live. Diversification is also progressing with double-digit growth in toys and stationery. Our new mattress offering, launched earlier this year in our integrated stores, is off to a very promising start and expanding rapidly. Home appliances were up nearly 2% versus H1 2024. Small appliances continue to grow, supported by innovation in areas like beauty tech and floor care. Large appliance sales are also going up, boosted by favorable weather and strong performance in fitted kitchens. In editorial products, gaming delivered excellent results thanks to the Switch 2 launch in early June 2025. Book sales were mainly driven by the popularity of thrillers, taking over from the romance category, which is now normalizing. Lastly, tech products declined due to continued softness in the PC market.
That said, the end of Windows 10 support in Q4 is expected to drive a refresh cycle. Tablets, smart glasses, and photography posted strong growth. New phone sales were down, but refurbished devices performed very well. TV sales declined due to a high comparison base from 2024, which included the Euros and the Olympics. Solid sales performance across Europe. On slide 12, let's look at regional performance. In France, revenue grew up 0.5% in H1, including 2.5% in Q2 alone. According to the Banque de France data published yesterday, Fnac Darty continues to outperform the market overall. The scope effect over the period reflects the permanent closure of our Champs-Élysées stores. Moving on to the rest of Europe, revenue was up 0.9% in H1, including 1.5% in Q2, though trends did vary by country.
In Italy, the like-for-like revenue was stable at 0.3% in H1, with a slight Q2 decline of 0.7%. Strong growth in online services couldn't fully offset the drop in tech product sales, particularly phones, TVs, and PCs. Belgium and Luxembourg saw a 2% like-for-like drop in H1, despite stable Q2 performance. The region remains under pressure due to intense competitive activity. Portugal posted strong like-for-like growth of 4.6% in H1, including 8.3% in Q2 alone. Online sales were particularly dynamic, up more than 27% year-over-year. Spain delivered very strong like-for-like growth of 7.4% in H1 and 14.3% in Q2 alone. All categories posted gains and services were up double digits. The scope effect mainly reflects the temporary closures of our Callao and Valencia Bornaire stores for renovation.
Lastly, in Switzerland, revenue rose 1.8% like-for-like at the end of June, including 4.5% in Q2, driven by strong double-digit online growth. Let's turn to gross margin on slide 13. At first glance, it's down by 210 basis points in H1, mainly due to the inclusion of UniEuro, which has a structurally lower margin than the group and the deconsolidation of ticketing. On a comparable basis, with UniEuro included and ticketing excluded, gross margin is actually up 60 basis points and 70 basis points, excluding the impact of franchising. This good performance is mostly driven by growth in service activities, particularly Darty Max, which offsets the dilutive impact of franchising. Moving to the rest of the P&L on slide 14, as I just explained, gross margin is up on a comparable basis. Operating costs reach EUR 1,351 million in H1 2025, up EUR 31 million versus the comparable 2024 period.
The impact of high real estate costs and general inflation has been largely offset by the effectiveness of our performance plans across the group's divisions. As a result, EBITDA is slightly up compared to last year. Current operating income came in at - EUR 56 million versus - EUR 49 miillion in H1 comparable in 2024, reflecting higher depreciation charges, particularly under IFRS 16. Non-recurring items totaled - EUR 11 million which is back to a normalized level. As a reminder, last year's figure included about EUR 11 million in restructuring costs, half of which were linked to Nature & Découvertes, and roughly EUR 15 million in fair value adjustment of IT projects. All in all, operating income for the period stands at - EUR 67 million an improvement of about EUR 10 million year-on-year. Financial expenses totaled EUR 57 million up EUR 23 million from last year.
This reflects higher net debt costs driven by the group's new financing terms and increased IFRS 16- related charges. After accounting for a tax gain of EUR 34 million, net income from continuing operations stands at - EUR 86 million an improvement over last year's - EUR 95 million. Let's now turn to free cash flow on slide 15. Operating free cash flow, excluding IFRS 16, came in at EUR 878 million versus EUR 736 million at end June 2024, which is in line with our expectations. This change is mainly due to a EUR 24 million increase in working capital and EUR 22 million higher net CapEx. Italy, in particular, saw an increase in investments with the opening of the new Colleferro warehouse, which Enrique mentioned, and several new store openings. By comparison, at end June 2024, net CapEx showed a positive EUR 21 million thanks to asset disposals, including a logistics warehouse in the Paris region.
Now a word about our debt maturity on slide 16. The group's financial position remains sound and robust, with EUR 1.5 billion in equity at the end of H1. Net financial debt, excluding IFRS 16, totaled EUR 779 million This is traditionally higher mid-year due to seasonality and includes a EUR 109 million fine from the ADLC. In March, we successfully issued EUR 300 million bonds maturing in April 2032, with a fixed annual coupon of 4.75%. The gross proceeds were used to redeem part of our 2027 convertible bonds. Over 77% of outstanding OCEANs were tendered, representing EUR 147 million. At the same time, our banks agreed to extend the maturity of our revolving credit facilities, RCF and DDTL, worth EUR 600 million in total, to March 2030, with two one-year extension options for each of them, taking us to March 2031 and potentially March 2032.
This secures the group's liquidity and fully covers both the 2029 and 2032 maturities. Fnac Darty is rated by S&P Global, Fitch Ratings, and Scope Ratings. Just a few days ago, S&P Global reaffirmed its BB+ rating with a stable outlook following its review of our new strategic plan and operating performance. Fitch Ratings and Scope Ratings also confirmed their BB+ and BBB ratings, respectively, both with a stable outlook. In summary, we extended our debt maturity and secured our long-term liquidity. Lastly, for the first year in a row, the group paid out a dividend of EUR 1 per share, representing 40% of net income from continuing operations. The dividend is paid in cash on July 4th for a total amount of EUR 29.4 million. With that, I'll now hand it back to Enrique to wrap up the presentation.
Thank you. As you've understood, we are pleased with this first half performance. As we announced, we broadened the scope of our objectives for the full year 2025. This outlook updates the ones communicated in our financial results 2024, which concerned only the Fnac Darty perimeter. We now expect our operating margin to increase by 15 basis points by 2025. This should reach 2% at the end of 2025, compared with 1.8% in 2024 on a like-for-like basis, including UniEuro and excluding the ticketing business. You are familiar with the impact of the operating margin because the acquisition of UniEuro decreased the operating margin of the group and so did the consolidation of the ticketing business. We are, of course, very confident. We believe we are going to have a success by the end of the year. The team has always organized itself in order to face different challenges.
Obviously, Jean-Brieuc and I are available to answer your questions.
Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one on your telephone keypad. We have a first question from Clément Genelot from Stifel. The floor is yours.
Yes. Good evening to both of you. Two questions on my side. Number one, regarding the scope effect. Can we expect to see another perimeter or scope effect strongly linked to the renovation of shops in Q3 and more specifically in H2? Second question, more generally speaking, it has to do with your relationship with suppliers. Given what is still happening, given all the uncertainties regarding tariffs, did you notice any behavioral changes from your suppliers during Q2? My question is, do suppliers reallocate stocks that were supposed to go to Northern Europe? Are they redirecting stocks towards Europe instead of North America?
Thank you for your question.
Regarding the scope, a few shops are involved. They were being renovated, and there is a closing of the Champs-Élysées store. Good recovery in other Parisian stores. However, they were able to get their customers. In the Iberian Peninsula, we are expecting the opening of a new shop in early September. We will be ready for the last four months of the year. As for the store in Barcelona, there is one that has been fully renovated and has had strong performance, and the other one is going to come later in the year. I'd say that Q3, a little bit of impact from the scope. Q4, not really. We are excluding the share of business that has been redirected from the Champs-Élysées to other Parisian stores. As for suppliers, suppliers are like everyone else. There is a lack of visibility for everyone.
Nobody knows what the final tariff policy is going to be, what the American administration is going to decide. At the moment, everybody's being careful, being cautious, conservative. We did not notice, we did not observe any strong changes. No changes in our relationship between Asia and Europe. To date, I must say that we did not observe any impact, neither positive nor negative ones for our suppliers or manufacturers.
Okay, [Foreign language]
Thank you very much.
[Foreign language]
Our next question is from Christian Delvismes from CIC. The floor is yours.
Good evening, gents. Two questions. Number one, it has to do with France's operating income, -E UR 45 million. It is worse than H1 2024 and 2023. My question is the following. I know this is H1, so it's not necessarily very particularly relevant, but in France, we have a greater sales performance. This is the most mature financial performance. Is this a one-off or are there losses from Nature & Découvertes that are going to have an impact? What can you say about France's profitability? France was supposed to be in a good position and it's not great.
The second question, we do not have the detail of the financial expenses, but -EUR 57 million for the whole year, we can do that times two and we will have a rather accurate estimate of what we can imagine for the full year end.
Right. Regarding your first question, there's been a lot of rental costs that have been increased. We're indexing H in Q2. There will be less of an impact in H2. It is just because of the economic situation and there are performance plans that are more active in the H2 than in H1 in France. No concerns to be had there. Very well. As for financial costs, financial, yes, you can't really multiply by two because we have less at the end of the year. There will be less than it's not going to be that times two. Very well, thank you.
[Foreign language]
It will depend on the final rental indexation of rents because you know that we have interest rates and the theoretical financial cost of the rents to take into account.
Nature & Découvertes,[Foreign language)
Regarding Nature & Découvertes, anything you'd like to say about that?
No, no impact. The impact on the France business has to do with another business. Nothing major for Nature & Découvertes. The recovery plan that was announced is being rolled out. We are seeing encouraging signs already. It's still too early to talk about it, but it is not because of Nature & Découvertes that we have a worse result for this half-year for France. As you know, the half-year result is not necessarily telling, doesn't reflect the full-year performance, but we are quite confident. In France, the share of the services, the share of margin on the growth of service is very, Q2 in France, we feel rather confident.
We know that there will be a lower negative effect on cost and we will get back to a normal model for our results. Thank you.
[Foreign langauge)
Just a reminder that if you want to ask a question, you should press star one on your phone.
(Foreign language)
Gentlemen, we have no other questions, and I'm going to give you the floor.
Give back the floor to you.
Yes. Thank you for your attention. Wish you a great vacation if you're on vacation, and we'll be happy to see you again in our exchanges about Q3 and perhaps other conferences by that time. Thank you for your attention and good evening.
[Foreign language)
Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference call. Thank you for your attention. You may now disconnect.