CNOVA N.V. First Quarter 2023 Activity

CNOVA N.V.
First quarter 2023 activity

AMSTERDAM – April 26, 2023, 18:00 CET Cnova N.V. (Euronext Paris: CNV; ISIN: NL0010949392) ("Cnova”) today announced its first quarter 2023 activity.

 Thomas Métivier, Cnova’s CEO, commented:

"In the 1^st quarter of 2023, Cnova has accelerated the pace of its transformation, on all its strategic pillars: marketplace, advertising services and B2B development with the commercial success of Octopia and C-Logistic’s solutions.

The relevance of Cnova’s platform model is confirmed by an all-time high marketplace share and record high quarter for marketplace revenues, advertising services and B2B, thanks to the strength of the technological platform, the efficiency of our artificial intelligence algorithms and our network of 15,000 sellers and suppliers.

All those actions, combined with the efficiency plan and strong efforts to improve direct sales margins, have already delivered significant impact on profitability and free cash flow.

The transformation continues to accelerate with improving trends since the beginning of April.”

First Quarter 2023 Key Figures 

First Quarter 2023 Highlights 

GMV posted a -15.0% like-for-like decrease in the 1^st quarter 2023, confirming Cnova’s strategic choice to accelerate its platform revenues with the development of its marketplace, advertising services and B2B businesses with Octopia and C-Logistics. This year-on-year change was driven by:

• Direct Sales contributing -13.3pts (-32.5% y-o-y), as a result of the on-going voluntary strategic shift to marketplace, mostly for low contribution margin non-technical goods, but preserving and still benefiting from strengthened relationships with top international brands
• Marketplace contributing -1.4pt (-3.7% y-o-y) while delivering +9pts in GMV share. Cnova raised quality standards through better delivery services with 50.3% free express delivery share in the 1^st quarter

• B2C Services contributing +1.1pt (+37.2% y-o-y), among which Travel alone brought +0.9pt to Cnova growth (+37.6% y-o-y)
  • Octopia B2B revenues contributing positively to growth (+42% y-o-y) driven by Merchant-as-a-Service and Marketplace-as-a-Service revenue growth (x2 vs. 22), with the successful launches of 2 marketplaces (Bébéboutik and an international retailer) and accelerating Fulfilment-as-a-Service revenues with an increase in shipped parcels (+38% vs. 22)
  • Octopia retail GMV contributed negatively for -1.0pt (-43% y-o-y) with Products-as-a-Service offer now focused on profitability as part of the transformation plan to drive profitable retail growth

Marketplace posting a 29pts y-o-y growth differential against first party sales, decreasing overall by -3.7%. Strong and regular customer satisfaction measured by the NPS at 55 (+11pts vs. 19 and steady vs. 22) led to a fast-increasing marketplace GMV share this quarter up to 56.7% (+8.9pts vs. last year). As part of this strategy, Fulfilment by Cdiscount and Express seller program continued to be very dynamic representing 50.3% of marketplace GMV in the 1^st quarter 2023, an increase of 0.2pt vs. last year.

The loyalty program Cdiscount à Volonté (CDAV) represented 38.5% of total GMV in the 1^st quarter 2023. 

Net Sales⁵ amounted to €323m (-24.2% like-for-like decrease vs. 22). This decrease is primarily driven by the voluntary mix improvement towards marketplace especially for non-technical goods categories with negative contribution margin.

  
Business Highlights

A record high marketplace GMV share with accelerated positive trends compared to pre-pandemic level:

• Marketplace reached all-time highest marketplace share in Q1 at 57% for the 1^st quarter 2023 (+9pts vs. 22, +21pts vs. 19), mainly driven by home categories and new strategic partnerships, confirming the mix evolution towards more marketplace revenues. During the 1^st quarter 2023, marketplace GMV was nearly stable (-4% vs. 22), in a context of strong inflation headwinds and macro-economic uncertainties
• New marketplace strategic partnerships were formed, including with a childcare specialist and a leading company specialized in consumer goods
• A new dedicated team of 20 collaborators was assembled to accelerate the recruitment and sales of the new Top sellers of the French, European and other international markets
  
  

Cnova continues the rationalization of its direct sales assortment with improving profitability and cash profile, supporting the overall Gross Margin increase.

This resilient performance for both direct sales and marketplace has been supported by disruptive offers launched this quarter, such as the new payment installment solution provided by Floa Bank for Apple products (including the possibility to trade an old device), and a strong and increasing customer satisfaction measured by the NPS at 55 (+11pts vs. 19, steady vs. 22).

Expansion of marketplace SKUs eligible to express delivery is a key driver of growth and customer satisfaction. It is also determinant to support the product mix re-orientation towards the marketplace:

• Cdiscount Express Seller, launched in 2019 for sellers able to offer express delivery to CDAV customers, reached a 15.4% marketplace GMV share for the 1^st quarter 2023 (+4.1pts vs. 22)
• Fulfilment by Cdiscount marketplace GMV share stands at 34.9% for the 1^st quarter 2023. A consequent effort is made to provide always more quality by recruiting top sellers with now a wider assortment than traditional retail sales

B2C Services showed a record performance:

• B2C Services GMV, excluding Energy, amounted to €36m in the 1^st quarter 2023, reaching again a solid growth (+37% vs. 22, x2.6 vs. 19)
• Cdiscount Voyages (travel) experienced a significant acceleration with a GMV growth of +38% vs. 22 (x2.2 vs. 19)
• Cdiscount Mobile (cell phone plan) activity performed very well during the 1^st quarter 2023 with a GMV growth of +36% vs. 22 (x7.2 vs. 19) and a strong increase in the subscriber base
  
  

 Dynamic Advertising Services driven by Retail Media dynamics:

• Advertising services revenues reached €17m for Q1 (+9% vs. 22), with growing GMV take rate standing at 3.5% (+0.9pt vs. 22)
  • Advertising services growth is mainly supported by Retail Media, which accounts for €13m of revenues for Q1 (+19% vs. 22) and allows both sellers and suppliers to reinforce their visibility and increase their sales
  • Growth is also driven by a dynamic offer expansion, with the creation of new formats, such as the launch of "premium” shops for sellers (12 signed sellers)
    
    

Octopia’s B2B revenues know a strong commercial dynamic, driven by its turnkey marketplace solution for EMEA retailers and e-merchants:

• Successful launches of 2 marketplaces (Bébéboutik and an international retailer)
• Outperformed revenues on Fulfilment-as-a-Service, with an increase in shipped parcels (+38% vs. 22) and the development of the activity in Spain
• Acceleration of the selling volume on its sales channels (x21 GMV y-o-y) and acceleration of the number of sellers deployed
• Successful launch of the drop-shipping offer for sellers, with 38 active sellers at end of the quarter on Products-as-a-Service

C-Logistics is developing its B2B activities through the successful launch of its third party-logistic solution for a European sportswear company, a service quality above customers’ expectations and knows a strong ramp-up with an increase in the number of shipped parcels for external clients (x3 vs. 22), representing an increase of 2.2pts in C-Logistics total number of shipped parcels. New strategic transportation flows have been implemented, enabling products delivery in Europe, with Chronopost for Express Delivery and BPost for Standard Delivery.
C-Logistics is also optimizing its costs and adapting its structure with the rationalization of transportation offers and the increase in warehouses productivity.
C-Logistics ESG approach has been pursued with significant efforts to decrease its energy consumption (-21% vs. 22).

Environmental, social and societal stakes such as human capital, climate, business ethics and societal commitment are at the heart of Cnova’s B2B and B2C strategic development:

• Cnova is committed to promoting a more responsible consumption through its direct sales and marketplace product offer. Actions carried out by Cdiscount and Octopia aiming to develop "more sustainable products” (e.g., increasing the visibility of these products and guaranteeing affordable prices) enable a continuous acceleration of this offer. "More sustainable products” account for 15.2% of Cdiscount’s Product GMV at 1Q (+3.8pts vs. 22)

• Cnova is also taking action to reduce the impact of its operations:
  • Thanks to actions undertaken with carriers, greenhouse gas emissions related to delivery of products sold by Cdiscount and shipped by C-Logistics have decreased by -19.2% on the 22 vs. 21 reporting period
  • Cdiscount and C-Logistics have joined the study group dedicated to the writing of an AFNOR SPEC "E-commerce: information to consumers on the environmental impact of their delivery choice”, aiming to define a reference framework for environmental display when the consumer chooses its delivery method on Cdiscount’s website
  • Cnova’s electricity and gas consumption has decreased by -25% in 22 vs. 19 (-15.9% vs. 21), overperforming objectives announced by Cnova in early Q4 as an answer to the national mobilization initiated by the government
• As a trustworthy partner, Cnova is committed to protect its clients. Cdiscount, which had already signed the Product Safety Pledge in 2020, has recommitted to consumer protection and signed the new version of the Product Safety Pledge at the European Consumer Summit organized by the European Commission
• Cnova pursues its social and societal commitment in favor of gender parity. Thanks to its Human Resources policy, Cnova’s consolidated gender equality index has increased by +0.2pt vs. 21

***

About Cnova N.V.

Cnova N.V., the French ecommerce leader, serves 8.1 million active customers via its state-of-the-art website, Cdiscount. Cnova N.V.’s product offering provides its B2C clients with a wide variety of very competitively priced goods, fast and customer-convenient delivery options, practical and innovative payment solutions as well as travel, entertainment and domestic energy services. Cnova N.V. also serves B2B clients internationally through Octopia (Marketplace-as-a-Service solutions), Cdiscount Advertising (advertising services for sellers and brands) and C-logistics (end-to-end logistic ecommerce solution). Cnova N.V. is part of Groupe Casino, a global diversified retailer. Cnova N.V.'s news releases are available at www.cnova.com. Information available on, or accessible through, the sites referenced above is not part of this press release.

This press release contains regulated information (gereglementeerde informatie) within the meaning of the Dutch Financial Supervision Act (Wet op het financieel toezicht) which must be made publicly available pursuant to Dutch and French law. This press release is intended for information purposes only.

***

1 Like-for-like figures exclude cross-canal sales and Cdiscount Energy GMV for 1Q22; ² as of April 25^th, 2023
2 2022 figures have been restated to take into account CChezVous disposal (discontinued operations)
3 Like-for-like figures exclude cross-canal sales and Cdiscount Energy GMV for Q122
4 Calculated as advertising services revenues divided by total product GMV excluding VAT (Marketplace GMV excl. VAT + Direct sales GMV excl. VAT)
5 Like-for-like figures exclude cross-canal sales and Cdiscount Energy GMV for Q122

Attachment

• Cnova NV_Activity Press Release_1Q23