Consumer DIY struggling to grow

Both Kesko and BHG reported declining growth for Q3/2022. Both DIY businesses had been growing rapidly over the pandemic, with Kesko B2C DIY reporting three consecutive 20+% growth quarters and nine consecutive 10+% growth quarters. This quarter, Finland and Norway declined, whereas the smaller Swedish business kept growing.

BHG had been the real growth story in the DIY sector. The company reported 12 consecutive quarters of 20+% growth. For the Q3/2022 quarter, total growth remained slightly positive with 1,5% growth, but the organic growth (not including acquired businesses) was -5,3% (second decline in a row).

Onninen driving the growth of Kesko DIY

Despite the sluggish B2C business, the entire Kesko DIY segment reported a strong 6,8% growth. The growth was thanks to the continued strong growth of Onninen. It has grown from 414 M€ in Q3/2019 to almost 600 M€ this quarter. And all this has been done with increasing operating margin. Since Q3/2019, the operating margin has grown from 4,8% to 8,9%.

Onninen was indeed a great acquisition from Kesko!