- Due to the ongoing pandemic, the beginning of the year was associated with high uncertainty in many markets. Despite this, thanks to the actions taken earlier, the CCC Group achieved a very high increase in revenues in the first quarter - says Marcin Czyczerski, President of the Management Board of the CCC Group. - We developed online sales even more - at the end of April this year. there were as many as 83 online platforms. As a result, during the next lockdown introduced at the end of March, customers had full contact with the wide range of products offered by the Group.

In the first quarter, the Group recorded EBITDA of PLN 35 million. Despite the restrictions in stationary trade, the operating result improved by nearly PLN 200 million y-o-y. The factor supporting its reconstruction was, apart from the dynamics of revenues, high cost discipline.

Dynamically growing e-commerce

From February to April this year. the share of e-commerce in total sales was 63%. Very high profitability, with strongly growing revenues, is maintained by eobuwie.pl. In the first quarter of 2021, the company also acquired two minority shareholders: Cyfrowy Polsat and A&R Investments (each will acquire a 10% stake), who will support the organization in its further, intensive development.

- The first quarter of 2021 in eobuwie.pl brought results 79% higher than last year. Sales generated by the company from February to April amounted to PLN 769 million, with an EBITDA margin of 10.5% (+4.6 pp y / y), and Modivo's share in the sales of the eobuwie.pl Group increased at the end of Q1 to 13% - concludes Marcin Grzymkowski, President of the Management Board of eobuwie.pl.

The company is also dynamically developing its online store with premium fashion Modivo, which is available today in 13 markets.

Other online stores of the CCC Group - ccc.eu, DeeZee are also recording increases in sales. In Q1 2021, they accounted for 17% of online sales, compared to 14% in the same period a year earlier. The CCC Group is also intensively working on launching new e-commerce platforms. Soon, ccc.eu will debut in other countries, incl. in Croatia, Russia, Bulgaria, Greece and Ukraine. Further geographic expansion of the DeeZee brand is also planned, as it is successfully developing not only footwear but also clothing sales in 6 markets.

Focus on customer needs

In the first quarter, the CCC Group continued to invest in the development of the omnichannel model - including digitization and new technologies. The mobile application has been enriched with new functionalities, incl. in March, the new version of the CCC Club was made available to its users. However, soon it will include, among others esize.me 2D scanner. A number of further enhancements have also been made to the customer experience.

- The sustained dynamics of the e-commerce channel growth shows that clients are more and more open to new functionalities. The needs of consumers are at the center of our attention - we are open to their opinions and we follow current trends. Thanks to this, we constantly provide them with modern solutions that meet their interest and build brand loyalty - says Marcin Czyczerski. - At the end of April, our application was used by nearly 5 million customers.

Due to the great interest in the CCC Express service, i.e. deliveries of products ordered in online channels within 90 minutes, the Group has been successively making it available in other cities - currently there are 36 of them. At the same time, the Company is investing in modern stationary stores - foot scanners have been introduced in about 200 stores esize.me and tablets for online shopping. The group is also finalizing the self-checkout implementation project.

Concentration of activities in the CEE region and ensuring long-term financing

In the first quarter of 2021, the CCC Group, in accordance with the adopted strategy of GO.22, focused its activities on the CEE region. At the same time, in connection with the earlier announcement, work continued to finalize the restructuring of the Group's presence in the countries of the DACH region - in Austria and Switzerland.

In 2020, the Group announced a strategic options review for its Swiss subsidiary Karl Vögele AG and reclassified this asset to discontinued operations, indicating the intention to sell it. Work is currently underway to complete the restructuring of the CCC Group's presence in the said country in a stationary format.

The priority of the CCC Group is to maintain liquidity and maintain the stability of long-term financing. In the first quarter of 2021, the Group tentatively confirmed the selected terms of new bank financing and the new terms of the bond issue. This is the next stage of refinancing work in the consistent direction with the business assumptions of the GO.22 strategy. Currently, the CCC Group is at the stage of agreeing the provisions of the syndicated loan agreement with financing institutions.

A new opening

The CCC Group maintains the assumption of dynamic sales in 2021/22. It is planned to implement them, among others thanks to further digitization of business, strengthening the omnichannel model, including the e-commerce channel. The company also focuses on an effective marketing communication strategy and the development of the product offer. Including the newly opened off-price concept, which will increasingly contribute to revenue growth.

- HalfPrice, launched in May this year. meeting with great interest of customers. Only in the first month from the opening, the stores of the new brand were visited by over 400 thousand. people. The CCC Group assumes further intensive expansion of HalfPrice - by the end of the year it plans to open nearly 60 stores throughout Poland - said Adam Holewa, Vice President of the Management Board of the CCC Group for Operations and Ownership Supervision.

- In the CCC Group, we treat 2021 as a new opening - adds Marcin Czyczerski. - Over the last year and a half, we have dealt with key challenges, we have put our business in order and prepared our model for profitable scaling in the area of ​​e-commerce and off-price. A strong strategy, an offer that meets great consumer reception, very good communication with the client, strong e-commerce and open stationary trade are conducive to the further, intensive development of the CCC Group.

The total area of ​​the CCC sales network at the end of April 2021 was 669.3 thousand square meters. m2. The CCC Group is present in 29 countries - in 22, sales are carried out in 1003 stationary stores, and in 18 through the online channel. The Group has a total of 83 online platforms across Europe: eobuwie.pl, ccc.eu, Modivo, DeeZee,
Gino Rossi.