Trayectoria educativa y competencias de los enfermeros que utilizan la ecografía en la

GROUP MANAGEMENT REPORT Asset Situation

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Non-current and current liabilities

Liabilities, including provisions, amounted to € 836.1 million at the balance sheet date, as against € 861.8 million in the previous year. Non-current liabilities increased from

€ 400.9 million to € 471.6 million. The rise in non-current liabilities by € 70.7 million was chiefly due to the taking up of a new promissory note bond of € 80 million. The non-current liabilities reported include deferred tax liabilities of

€ 35.7 million (2010/2011: € 37.1 million).

Current liabilities fell from € 460.9 million to € 364.5 million.

Largely as a result of the follow-up financing for the promis-sory note bond of € 80 million maturing as of June 30, 2011, current financial debt reduced by € 76.7 million to

€ 24.6 million (2010/2011: € 101.3 million). Trade payables and other liabilities totaled € 244.4 million at the balance sheet, compared with € 263.3 million in the previous year. At

€ 67.6 million, other provisions and accrued liabilities were virtually unchanged on the previous year (€ 67.2 million).

The net debt of the HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG Group, i.e.

financial debt less cash and cash equivalents, grew slightly to € 27.7 million, up from € 17.8 million in the previous year.

Off-balance sheet financing instruments and rental obligations

In addition to the DIY megastores with garden centers owned by the HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG Group and those used on the basis of finance lease agreements, there are 43 stores and one logistics center that are let from the associ-ate company HORNBACH Immobilien AG or its subsidiaries, as well as 57 DIY megastores with garden centers that are let from third parties. Moreover, the Group also has a small number of additional land leasehold, leasing and rental agreements.

The obligations under rental, hiring, leasehold and leasing contracts relate exclusively to rental agreements for which the companies of the HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG Group do not constitute the economic owners of the assets thereby leased pursuant to IFRS accounting standards (Operating Lease). The rental agreements principally relate to DIY megastores with garden centers in Germany and other countries. The terms of the rental agreements usually amount to between 15 and 20 years, with subsequent rental extension options. The respec-tive agreements include rent adjustment clauses.

Key balance sheet figures of the HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG Group

Key figure Definition 2.29.2012 2.28.2011

Equity ratio Equity / Total assets % 48.6 45.9

Return on equity Annual net income / Average equity % 10.2 10.9

Return on total capital NOPAT¹⁾/ Average total capital²⁾ % 11.5 10.9

Debt / equity ratio (gearing) Net debt / Equity % 3.5 2.4

Additions to non-current assets,

including advance payments for land € million 103.7 67.9

Net working capital Inventories and receivables less trade payables € million 357.8 318.9

Inventory turnover rate Cost of goods sold / Average inventories 4.0 4.0

1) Net operating profit after tax, defined as EBIT minus unchanged standardized tax rate of 30 % for the HORNBACH Group.

2) Average total capital defined as average equity plus average net debt.

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At February 29, 2012, obligations under rental, hiring, lease-hold and leasing contracts amounted to € 1,122.8 million (2010/2011: € 1,179.4 million). This reduction is mainly due to annual rent payments for the 2011/2012 financial year.

Furthermore, a number of rental adjustment and extension options were exercised in the year under report.

Overall assessment of earnings, financial and net asset situation

The HORNBACH-Baumarkt-AG Group performed well in the 2011/2012 financial year and strengthened its market posi-tion. Despite ongoing price competition and the difficult macroeconomic framework as a result of the financial and economic crisis, especially in Eastern Europe, we managed to increase our sales both in absolute terms and on a like-for-like basis. We also managed to maintain the high level of profitability already achieved in the previous year. In Germany, we once again outperformed the sector average, enabling us to expand our market share yet again. Thanks to our sales growth, we also boosted our profitability. Given the uncertain macroeconomic backdrop in Eastern Europe in particular, our international business reported satisfactory developments, achieving a slight expansion in its share of sales while main-taining a high level of profitability.

Our equity ratio has risen to 48.6%. The capital structure and liquidity remain at very good levels. In view of our broad spec-trum of financing sources, we enjoy a high degree of security and flexibility to finance our further growth. Overall, the eco-nomic situation of the Group is satisfactory.

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HORNBACH puts project customers in the spotlight

"We're no normal DIY store. We're a project DIY store". Consis-tent with this image of itself, HORNBACH has made project customers the focal point of its activities for more than 130 years now. We are the address for people with big plans - construction and renovation projects in their houses, apart-ments and gardens - people for whom home improvement is a matter of passion and absolute dedication. At HORNBACH, they can rely on a partner that offers them a comprehensive range of services for their project - with easily accessible locations, great breadth and depth of product range, the right volume of stock on hand for their projects, uncomplicated and easily comprehensible merchandise presentation, dependable permanently low prices, and professional advice. In this, we rely not only on a high-performance stationary retail store network, but supplement this with a sophisticated range of online products focusing on our internet store and numerous planning aids.

Customers across Europe honor HORNBACH's concept Our unmistakable position as the top address for projects was confirmed yet again in various consumer surveys and sector studies in the past financial year. In the "Kunden-monitor Deutschland" issued by ServiceBarometer AG, one of Germany's most important and detailed customer satisfac-tion surveys, more than 6,000 DIY customers were surveyed about their home DIY store in 2011. The results speak for themselves. Of the ten large DIY chains covered by the survey, HORNBACH was awarded the best average marks in 16 out of 32 individual categories. Among others, these included "product range compared with competitors", "value for money", "merchandise and product quality", and "spe-cialist advice". Not only that, HORNBACH was ranked first in the most important category of all - "overall satisfaction".

Consumers have thus confirmed that, with its consistent project orientation, HORNBACH has generated benefits for its customers and clearly differentiated itself from competi-tors.

Our results on the international stage were equally impres-sive once again in the year under report. HORNBACH

re-ceived top marks in the "Kundenmonitor 2011" survey car-ried out in Austria by analogy with its German counterpart.

For the third time in succession, consumers ranked our company first, and well ahead of its competitors, both in terms of "overall satisfaction" and in all four other main categories surveyed. In the Netherlands, HORNBACH came first in the consumer survey carried out by GfK Panel Ser-vices Benelux, with the best marks in the "products" and

"prices" categories. Customers in Switzerland reached similar conclusions. For the second consecutive year, HORNBACH was singled out as "Retailer of the Year" in the DIY store category by the renowned market research company Q&A Research. HORNBACH scored especially well and received the top marks from Swiss customers in the

"product range" and "value for money" categories.

HORNBACH received the best assessment in the annual Swedish Quality Index (SKI) customer satisfaction survey, and that for the fourth year in succession. In 2011, custom-ers were even more satisfied with our Swedish DIY stores and garden centers than one year earlier. Particularly good marks were awarded to HORNBACH for "value for money", among other categories. According to the "Do it yourself 2011" survey performed by GfK, Czech customers also ranked HORNBACH very highly, including top position com-pared with competitors in the fields of "product range breadth" and "employee qualifications".

HORNBACH pursues multichannel strategy Homogenous store network as basis for success

HORNBACH has decades of experience in operating DIY megastores with garden centers. The network of 134 stores in nine countries across Europe forms the stationary foundation for implementing the company's project concept. Our portfolio of locations in Germany and abroad is highly homogenous, with 85% of the Group's sales areas as of the balance sheet at stores which are larger than 10,000m². This facilitates the rapid rollout of universal and/or innovative concepts to old and new sales areas alike (best-practice approach). What's more, the combination of homogeneity and large surfaces generates substantial logistical benefits, thus providing us