The German firm, which said it makes half of its sales in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Belgium and the Netherlands, now expects net sales of €4.5bn for the 2024/25 financial year, instead of its forecast €4.7bn.
It has also lowered its net income forecast to around €175m, from the previous forecast of €225m – €265m.
“The already weak customer sentiment in the market has continued to deteriorate since February, leading to a decline in footfall in stores and traffic online,” said the retailer.
According its CEO Sander van der Laan, the increasing economic and political global tensions have now impacted the premium beauty sector in Europe.
“In the past weeks we have seen an accelerating slowdown in consumer traffic and demand in the market, which also impacts the business. Hence, our recent sales and gross profit developments have not met our initial expectations.”
Van der Laan said the firm has already “initiated several countermeasures” to “stabilise its performance,” and declared that its omnichannel strategy “continues to be the winning model for premium beauty.”
Customer traffic has slowed in Germany & France
The business also said that in two of its most important beauty markets, Germany and France, customer traffic has notably decreased.
Douglas has attributed this to “a growing uncertainty among consumers regarding macro-economic and geopolitical tensions, the economic and political situation in Germany and looming international trade conflicts which could harm key industries and burden the overall purchasing power in Europe,” it said.
Growth in the 20 other countries where it is present has also slowed down, but is still “relatively robust,” said the business.
