Beter Bed Holding N.V. — Earnings Release 2021

Apr 16, 2021

Press release

Uden, the Netherlands, 16 April 2021

Beter Bed Holding outperforms market trends with strong online growth during mandatory lockdown in Q1 2021

Highlights first quarter:

• Q1 sales amounted to € 48.0 million as a result of mandatory store closures largely offset by strong growth in online sales and excellent performance in Belgium, Sweden and at DBC.
• Impressive performance of online channel due to ongoing investments; online sales accelerated by 252.4% to € 19.7 million, amounting to 41% of total sales.
• Order book on 31 March amounted to € 18.8 million, up 13.4% versus last year. Like-for-like order intake decreased by 14.0% over the first quarter mainly as a result of mandatory store closures.
• Since stores have been reopened for 'shopping by appointment' (3 March) order intake has grown by 60.8% over March 2021 compared with a year earlier.
• Well-positioned to benefit from further market growth on the back of increased attention for the role of sleep in well-being.

€ million	Sales 2021 Q1
	Sales	% Growth vs.	LFL sales growth vs.	LFL order intake	Online sales as %
	2021 Q1	2020 Q1	2020 Q1	growth vs. 2020 Q1	of total sales
Benelux	40.7	-14.8%	-14.9%	-20.8%	46.2%
New Business	7.3	11.8%	26.0%	45.5%	11.9%
Total	48.0	-11.7%	-10.5%	-14.0%	41.0%

John Kruijssen, CEO of Beter Bed Holding, comments:

"We started 2021 with a vast majority of our stores closed, a situation a retailer cannot get used to. The Group showed its agility by impressively accelerating the online business on the back of a record high order book, and continuing our growth in New Business. InRetail insights show that we have again outperformed the market in the Netherlands, while we continued our strong performance in other markets.

January and February were challenging, with 118 stores closed. Nevertheless, we showed an impressive online performance partially offsetting the loss of order intake and recovering around 80%. From March, when 'shopping by appointment' was allowed, order intake was immediately at pre-COVID levels, showing an impressive 60.8% growth against 2020. A full recovery of order intake in March and an even higher order book at the end of Q1 against 2020 was the outcome, putting us in a strong position when the stores start to reopen again.

The journey continues in ensuring customers can shop and colleagues can work safely at Beter Bed Holding locations as COVID-19 is still determining our lives and behaviours. At the same time we continue to further implement our strategy which relentlessly focusses on providing customers with products and services to improve the quality of sleep, in all markets and circumstances."

COVID-19 update

COVID-19 continues to impact our personal and business lives, although it is still unclear when and how much measures will be reduced and the vaccination program will have materialised. We anticipate that shops might be allowed to open completely from 28 April onwards. Until that moment, the current lockdown in the Netherlands and Belgium is continuing through 'shopping by appointment', which all our shops can accommodate in a safe and secure manner.

Beter Bed Holding has adjusted its operations in such way that the negative effects are minimised and with the investments made in marketing, our online channel and the precautionary measures taken, we have been able to outperform the markets as shown last year and in Q1 2021. We will continue to be diligent in our cost and capital management while at the same time we will continue to invest in further digitalisation of our business, the implementation of our strategy, the development of new business ideas including a new store format as well as the finalisation of our CSR strategy planned to be released second half of the year.

Active stock and supplier management is in place in order to minimise disturbances caused by the lockdowns. Precautionary measures are continuously taken and constantly reviewed to ensure safe working and safe shopping conditions.

Looking ahead

Over the past year, we made significant investments in our online proposition, accelerated by COVID-19, as well as in our marketing and client service. All Beter Bed Holding stores are currently open, with 'shopping by appointment' in the Netherlands and in Belgium. We are well-positioned and capable to further strengthen our performance and expect to continue to outperform the market in the second quarter of this year, provided we are not confronted with more and stricter measures.

We are confident that the continued implementation of strategic initiatives will further amplify our position in the markets. The additional attention and awareness of consumers for the importance of sleep for their health, leads to increased spending on sleep products, and with our leading position in the markets we believe we can further accelerate our performance.

Number of stores

The table below shows the development of stores in Q1 2021.

Number of stores
	1-1-2021	Opened	Closed	31-3-2021
Beter Bed Netherlands	84	0	0	84
Beddenreus	34	0	0	34
Beter Bed Belgium	17	0	1	16
Total Benelux	135	0	1	134
Sängjätten	16	0	0	16
Total	151	0	1	150

2021 Q1 YTD

Benelux

With 88% of Benelux stores closed for the largest part of Q1 2021, the Benelux showed a very strong performance with order intake at approximately 80% of the level in the same period last year. Investments from 2020 in both technology and people equipped Beter Bed and Beddenreus to be able to act as a pure online player, resulting in a more than 250% growth in online sales compared with Q1 2020. The strong Easter campaign with its continued 'Sleep Better, Live Better' motto resulted in a record order intake performance over the period.

New Business

Sales in New Business, comprising the DBC wholesale business and Sängjätten in Sweden, increased by 11.8% to € 7.3 million compared to last year with a like-for-like sales growth of 26.0%.

DBC

The performance of DBC has been strong during Q1, despite the store closures. Sales increased by 18.9% compared with the same period in 2020, driven by the independent retailers as well as by B2B customers. Both offline and online have contributed to this success. The order intake in Q1 improved by 68.8% versus 2020 leading to a higher order book at the end of the first quarter. New deals in the B2B channel and partnerships have strengthened the DBC customer base.

Following the agreement with leading Asian retailer DeRucci in Q4 2020, DBC continues to expand its partnerships and has now signed an exclusive supply agreement with Droomparken to provide M line mattresses to all the holiday houses on their 15 leisure parks. This month, DBC will start to deliver M line mattresses to Tokyo in preparation for the Olympic Games. DBC has been supplying the M line top mattresses for TeamNL every Olympic Games since Beijing 2008, and has been the official sleep supporter of the NOC*NSF since 2016, ensuring that the top athletes of TeamNL get the best quality sleep and rest, so that they can perform to the max: 'Sleep well, move better'.

Sängjätten

Sängjätten continued the implementation of the renewed customer value proposition 'bed specialist' in the Swedish market. New marketing campaigns were activated throughout the refitted store network as well as on the renewed website. In the past six months the organisation was further strengthened through new hires in Finance, Marketing and HR. A contract for a new store in Väla has been signed and this store will open on 1 May, the first store to be opened since the summer of 2019.

Q1 brought a growth of 27.8% in like-for-like order intake in own stores with an increased gross margin. Average ticket size is up compared with last year and conversion increased. In Q1 Sängjätten has migrated the online store to the platform of the Group which enables growth even further.

AGM update

Due to the current restrictions regarding COVID-19 the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 12 May 2021 will be held virtually. Shareholders will exclusively be able to participate through a live webcast. Unfortunately, in-person attendance is not allowed. The latest information on the AGM, such as the agenda including the explanatory notes and the voting instructions, is available on the Company's website www.beterbedholding.com.

About Beter Bed Holding

Beter Bed Holding N.V. is a sleep specialist operating in the European retail, wholesale and B2B sectors, providing the very best beds and sleep products at affordable prices to match the unique needs of every customer. We believe that the better we sleep, the happier, healthier and more productive we are. And we won't rest until everyone gets the high-quality sleep they deserve.

At year-end 2020, Beter Bed Holding N.V.'s 151 stores generated revenue of over € 222 million, with approximately 15% share of online revenue.

Beter Bed Holding has been listed on Euronext Amsterdam with security code BBED NL0000339703 since December 1996.

For more information

Press enquiries: Uneke Dekkers / CFF Communications T +31 (0)20 575 4010 or M +31 (0)6 50261626 E uneke.dekkers@cffcommunications.nl