Stock market today: S&P 500 climbs as health care, tech gain; Nvidia earnings loom
Investing.com -- Zalando SE (ETR:ZALG) shares fell by 3% on Wednesday after the online retail company reported a sharp decline in free cash flow and unadjusted earnings in the second quarter, despite increases in revenue and adjusted EBIT.
The Berlin-based company’s Q2 free cash flow was at €209.3 million, down from €441.1 million in Q2 2024.
Revenue for the quarter ended June 30 rose 7.3% to €2.84 billion from €2.64 billion a year earlier, while gross merchandise volume (GMV) grew 5% to €4.06 billion.
Adjusted EBIT increased 8.1% to €185.5 million. However, unadjusted EBIT fell 6.2% to €145.2 million, and the EBIT margin narrowed to 5.1% from 5.9%.
Net income was largely unchanged at €96.6 million, compared with €95.7 million in the prior-year quarter.
Operating expenses rose across categories, fulfillment costs increased to €627 million from €583.5 million, marketing expenses climbed to €247 million from €237.3 million, and other operating expenses, including restructuring charges, rose to €16.4 million from €0.8 million.
In the first half of 2025, free cash flow dropped to €17.2 million from €279.6 million a year earlier.
Operating cash flow also declined, falling to €140.8 million from €379.7 million. Cash and cash equivalents stood at €2.18 billion at the end of June, down from €2.59 billion at the end of 2024.
First-half revenue rose 7.6% to €5.25 billion, and GMV increased 6.2% to €7.59 billion.
Adjusted EBIT grew 16.2% to €232.3 million, while unadjusted EBIT reached €166.6 million, up from €155.5 million. Net income for the period rose to €106.5 million from €86.9 million.
The company reported 52.9 million active customers, up 6.1% from the previous year. The average basket size increased 1.2% to €61.6, while the number of orders rose 2.5% to 65 million. Average GMV per customer was flat at €298.2, and orders per customer fell slightly to 4.8 from 4.9.
Revenue in the B2C segment rose 7.2% to €4.76 billion in the first half, with adjusted EBIT increasing to €214.7 million from €188.1 million. B2B revenue climbed 11.9% to €502.3 million, and adjusted EBIT rose to €17.2 million from €12.6 million.
Capital expenditure totaled €93.4 million in the first half, primarily for logistics infrastructure and software.
Zalando completed its €917.7 million cash acquisition of ABOUT YOU Holding SE on July 11, increasing its stake from 6.4% to 91.5%. The transaction included €403 million in restricted cash reported in the half-year figures.
Zalando raised its full-year guidance following the acquisition. The company now expects GMV between €17.2 billion and €17.6 billion, revenue between €12.1 billion and €12.4 billion, and adjusted EBIT between €550 million and €600 million.