Décathlon saw its operating profit before amortization and tax (EBITDA) increase by 4.3 percent to €388.2 million in 2005 on 9.4 percent higher sales of €3,741 million before VAT. On a comparable basis, sales rose by 5.3 percent, but most of the growth took place outside France, whose share of the total turnover declined to 62 percent from 70 percent in 2004.

At €2,319 million, sales in France were up by only 1 percent in absolute terms and by 0.5 percent on a same-store basis, in line with the general market trends. Décathlon had scored better than the domestic market before, but last year it introduced a new policy of selective discounts on a number of products in France and in a few other markets, and they affected revenues as well as the overall profitability. According to company officials, the number of customers and the volume of products sold through French stores increased more than the revenues.

Outside France, the revenues of Europe’s largest integrated sports retailer grew by 24.7 percent to €1,422 million in 2005, with gains of more than 20 percent in Spain, in Italy and even in Germany, a country where the French banner has achieved a turnaround under new management. Major sales increases were also recorded in China, Portugal, Brazil, Poland and the Netherlands. The overall profitability of Décathlon’s foreign operations improved in 2005, coming close to the breakeven zone, but while it is already profitable in big markets like Spain and Italy, it is still making losses in the USA.

Décathlon is planning to open about 30 new stores this year, depending on the authorizations obtained from local authorities, and to expand about 10 existing units. Four new doors are on the drawing board in France, including a nice 4,500-square-meter structure in downtown Paris, near the French Sports Ministry, that is going to open next week.

Décathlon’s first store in Moscow is scheduled to open at the end of April, and it may be followed by a second one before the end of the year. In China, the number of stores should double to ten, comprising a door in Beijing. Décathlon will also double its presence on the Belgian market, where it currently has 7 units. Other openings are envisaged in Spain, Italy, Portugal, Poland and Hungary.

The company opened a total of 23 new stores in 2005, and it expanded or relocated 17 others. It closed one store in France and another one in the UK. It set up 4 new units in France, doing the same in Italy and Spain, and it opened its first three stores in Hungary. As of last Feb. 28 the chain had a total of 350 outlets including 221 in France, 48 in Spain, 35 in italy, 7 in Germany and Belgium, 6 in the UK and Portugal, 4 in Poland and the USA, 3 in Hungary and two in Holland and in Brazil.

Décathlon’s private brands again represented more than one-half of its total sales. Like the global brands, they contributed to last year’s overall sales increase. The strongest sales gains were recorded in the hiking/trekking, cycling, running, fitness and team sports sectors. Kalenji, Décathlon’s new brand of running shoes and clothing, recorded an excellent performance in its first year.

The company points out that 9 of its new private label items got the IF Product Design Award last March 9 in Hanover, collecting more awards than any other French firm in the contest, where 1,952 prototypes from 37 countries were presented.

As reported, the staff of two of Décathlon’s private brands, Quechua and Tribord, has already moved to new head offices in France over the last few years, and the others should follow over the next 2-3 years. Some of the space vacated in the company’s campus in Lille has been used for a state-of-the-art golf store under Décathlon’s private brand in the sector, Inesis. The store offers the products of the major golf brands, and no other such initiatives are planned.