Damartex was strongly impacted by the Covid 19 crisis, which forced the closure of 170 stores for two months and led to a significant slowdown in its activity (-23.9% from March to May). The Group confirms that it expects heavy losses for the financial year.
This exceptional situation, which follows two years marked by social unrest in France, has encouraged Damartex to accelerate its transformation initiated with the “Transform to Accelerate” plan.
This strategic plan focuses on 5 strategic axes:

1. Image modernization
2. Digital transformation
3. New business development
4. Focus on agility
5. Change our world: Implementation of the CSR ambition.

This plan has begun to produce its first effects in the first half of the 2019-2020 financial year with a return to growth in business and a significant improvement in current operating income.

On the strength of this encouraging observation before the health crisis, and in order to revive this positive dynamic, despite the current crisis, Damartex has taken the following decisions

1.ACCELERATING THE TRANSFORMATION BY REFOCUSING THE ACTIVITY
Damartex has announced its intention to refocus its business portfolio on a limited number of brands to be able to ensure the necessary investments for their modernization and digital transformation.

As they required too much investment to ensure their repositioning, the brands La Maison du Jersey, Delaby and Jours Heureux, will see their activity cease by June 2021.

Damartex will then rely on three balanced and robust divisions: the Fashion division made up of Damart, Afibel and Xandres, the Home & Lifestyle division with 3 Pagen, Coopers of Stortford and Vitrine Magique, and finally the recently created Healthcare division including Santéol and Sedagyl.

2.STRENGTHENING GROUP EFFICIENCY
To support the strategic plan and accelerate the agility and efficiency of the
different brands, Damartex has initiated today an information-consultation
process with the different SECs (Social & Economic Committees) of the group. It is considering the pooling of several services at Group level (design, marketing of the product offer, and the publishing and production of catalogues) and closer collaboration between the various brands. Catalogue logistics, whose activity has been significantly reduced over the last 5 years, would be outsourced. Finally, after a review of its portfolio, the Group is considering closing 3 Damart stores in France.

At the end of the consultation, these refocusing, and cost-cutting projects would lead to the loss of 195 jobs, 159 of which would be in France (where 25 new posts will also be created). True to its culture of dialogue and social responsibility, Damartex will do its utmost to minimize the impact on employment and provide quality support to all its employees.

3.STRENGTHENING THE FINANCIAL STRUCTURE
Beyond these strategic ambitions to return to profitable and sustainable growth, the Group must also face the immediate difficulties caused by the Coronavirus. The Group is therefore in discussions with its banking partners for the renegotiation of its covenants and the implementation of a State-guaranteed loan (so-called PGE) of 80M€. These discussions should be finalized before the end of june 2020. Obtaining the PGE should enable the Group to meet its shortterm cash requirements and is part of a scenario of a new pandemic at the end of 2020.

In order to finance its strategic plan, the Group proposes to carry out a capital increase of approximately €30 million with shareholders’ preferential subscription rights by the end of the year, subject to market conditions. This operation has received the support of the reference shareholder and the Executive Committee will also participate.

In addition, the Group is also working to improve its balance sheet by disposing of non-strategic assets for €15 million.

“Transform to Accelerate 2.0 is an ambitious and necessary plan to position Damartex as one of the European leaders in the silver economy. The encouraging results preceding the Covid-19 crisis validated the relevance of Damartex’s diversified model, and encourage us to go further in this transformation. I would like to thank our employees for their extraordinary commitment to our customers and partners during this period. The various measures envisaged today should enable the Group to regain a solid base to face a complicated economic environment during the year 2020.” said Patrick Seghin, Chairman of the Management Board of Damartex.

“The year 2020 will be in many ways a special year for Damartex. Whereas the Group saw the first positive effects of its transformation plan by initiating a return to growth, it found itself facing an unprecedented health crisis, bringing many uncertainties. Today, sustaining the business requires taking difficult decisions. However, thanks to its ambition – On Seniors Side -, its values and the dynamism of its teams, Damartex has many assets to recover, and address the future.” added Jean Guillaume Despature, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Damartex

PROFILE
The Damartex Group, one of the leading European distributors for seniors, aims to become the European leader in the silver economy. It includes three divisions:
• “Fashion” – Damart, Afibel, La Maison du Jersey, Xandres
• “Home & Lifestyle”, 3 Pagen, Vitrine Magique, Coopers of Stortford, Jours Heureux, Delaby
• “Healthcare”, Sedagyl and Santéol
The Group mainly operates in Europe, including in France, Great Britain, Belgium and Germany.

www.damartex.com

CONTACTS
Damartex: Bruno Defache
Tel: +33 3 20 11 45 30
bdefache@damartex.com
Shan: Alexandre Daudin
Tel: +33 1 44 50 51 76
alexandre.daudin@shan.fr

The situation that the world is experiencing is unprecedented and has led us to rethink our business. While a large proportion of colleagues are currently working from home or on short-time working, voices were raised to implement actions to support our customers.

The On Seniors’ Side Foundation has committed to regularly call our most fragile customers. This is possible thanks to the collaboration of the Alma Nord-Pas-de-Calais association, which has guided us to check up on them and, if necessary, direct them to the health or social services adapted to their needs. Fourteen colleagues have volunteered to set up this system before extending it to all those who wanted to join the movement. There are now about a hundred Damart and Afibel colleagues on the phone and nearly 400 customers have been contacted !

For Guillaume Galasso who works in the IT department and volunteered: “Picking up the phone is already out of my comfort zone. It’s not easy but it’s a rewarding exercise”. In exchange for a little time, some listening and some chatting on various subjects, we have received a lot of recognition and thanks from our customers who are delighted with this initiative, and that is heart-warming!

The Foundation also supports another initiative: writing to the elders locked down in long-term care facilities to fight against isolation. In collaboration with Le Comptoir de L’Hirondelle (The Swallow’s Trading Post) association, weekly emails are sent to medical facilities in the Lille metropolitan area. The Les Blouses Roses (The Pink Coats) association, for its part, sends it on to its entire national network. Residents regularly receive mail, drawings, paintings, photos or even children’s songs to help them ease their daily lives. About 50 letters have already been sent.

Do you want to get involved with senior citizens too? Here are some ideas: Helping seniors during lockdown.

DAMART IS COMMITTED

“We are, originally, a brand that puts textiles at the service of health: in this unprecedented context of health crisis, it was natural for us to do our part, and to commit ourselves to the collective effort against the Coronavirus epidemic. Playing as a team is no longer an option. Congratulations to our teams who, on the one hand, have maintained the business in order to preserve the company’s continuity and, on the other hand, initiated actions for the community. We will all come out of this crisis transformed, with stronger values and an unprecedented will to build the future together.” Christophe Gaigneux – Damart Managing Director

All of the brand’s employees are working hard to play a part in the collective effort to fight the Covid-19 epidemic. Damart has joined the “Des Masques En Nord” operation initiated by the Lille University Hospital, the Lemahieu company and supported by Le Souffle du Nord, in order to provide 60,000 washable and reusable face masks to health professionals in the Lille Metropolitan area. In mid-April, our fifteen volunteer seamstresses sent a first batch of 1,000 so-called “Garridou” masks!

In collaboration with the city of Roubaix, Thermolactyl Kits have been distributed to law enforcement agencies and household waste collection staff working outdoors. Clothing perfectly adapted to their activities allows them to work in the best conditions.

Overnight kits for people in lockdown in Roubaix’s Hospital Centre and long-term care facilities were also distributed. With the current sanitary conditions, families are not allowed to bring clothes from home or to go home to get changed. These kits include underwear, socks and pyjamas for the elderly and parents whose children are hospitalized.

Xandres’ Sewing Machines Are Smoking

Xandres also started making washable and reusable fabric masks. They are intended for anyone who has to continue working outside the home: medical, catering, retail, schools, post office, etc. Many Damart and Afibel colleagues have actually received some!

LOTS OF DONATIONS

The Sedagyl and Delaby teams have donated small equipment to residential care facilities so that seniors could continue exercising in their rooms; despite the lockdown: pedal exercisers, mini-steppers and exercisers.

Afibel has donated clothes, T-shirts and fleeces for the medical staff so that they can protect patients in the best conditions.

Finally, Jours Heureux warmed hearts in hospitals by offering 960 boxes of chocolates and cookies.

DAMART x EDHEC | Make Thermolactyl a more responsible experience

 In September 2019, Damart challenged Edhec Design Thinking students to make Thermolactyl a more responsible experience. They rose to the challenge with flying colors! Five projects participated in the final which took place on January 31 and two won!

 • “From Bottle To Thermolactyl”, won the jury’s prize. The project is as follows : collector of plastic bottles in store, organizer of coffee repair in store and create a community of customers around the seam, manufacture thermolactyle compounds with 30% of recycled plastic.

• “Damart warms you up” won the audience award! Students offered, among other things, a pack that is planted and a partnership with associations to plant trees.

Discover more about the winners and their experience with Damart thanks to the video below:

Damartex Confirms its Ambitions in the Silver Economy by Expanding in Healthcare Services.

In line with its transformation plan, Damartex announces the acquisition of 95% of the shares of Santéol holding SAS, a home healthcare service provider specializing in respiratory assistance.

A company founded in 2005 in Strasbourg, France, Santéol employs 46 people. Santéol is specialized in the management of patients with chronic or acute breathing disorders. Santéol offers high-quality personalised support, dedicated to the treatment of nocturnal sleep-related breathing disorders (Sleep apnoea) but also chronic pathologies requiring the implementation of oxygen therapy or even non-invasive ventilation at home.

TO BECOME A REFERENCE PLAYER OF THE RESPIRATORY ASSISTANCE AT HOME

The population affected by sleep apnoea syndrome in France is estimated at 3 million people, the vast majority of whom are seniors. This number is expected to increase as a result of demographic evolution. In addition, only one third of patients are currently being treated.

To meet this growing demand, Damartex intends to support Santéol in its development, mainly by opening new branches, and also remains open to other acquisition opportunities.

In line with Damartex’s integration strategy, the management team in place at Santéol, led by Didier Schmitt, will retain the company’s independent management in order to ensure its development, while benefiting from the skills and support of Damartex’s team.

CREATION OF A NEW HEALTHCARE DIVISION

The acquisition of Santéol represents the creation of a new “Healthcare” division, reflecting the group’s desire to become even more firmly established in the Silver economy, a fast-growing sector.

“The creation of the new Healthcare division is the result of a profound reflection on the Group’s development opportunities. We have found among home care providers the same values of well-being and comfort that characterize Damartex. Strongly committed to supporting seniors, we welcome Santéol with enthusiasm and great humility. Santéol’s team has an excellent knowledge of its business and we will be able to contribute Damartex’s Digital expertise” said Patrick Seghin, Chairman of the Management Board of Damartex.

Discover Santéol > https://santeol.com/