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Hello, and welcome to Fiskars Group's Q3 results webcast. I'm Noora Huttula from Fiskars Group's Investor Relations, and I'm here with our president and CEO, Nathalie Ahlström, and CFO, Jussi Siitonen. We have slightly different program from usual. Nathalie will give a brief summary about that in just a moment. After that, Jussi will take you through the Q3 highlights, and then Nathalie will give a strategic update. We will then have time for your questions, and you can already type in your questions in the chat during the presentations. Natalie, please go ahead.

Thank you, Nora, and welcome everybody to this call today. There's a lot happening in Fisker's group at the moment, so happy to talk about that. But first, a few glance on the quarter and the key messages. We had another solid quarter in Q3, despite the challenging market conditions. We improved our profitability despite volumes decreasing. And yet again, all-time high gross margin in Q3, driven by very good work in our supply chain. Our strategic growth fundamentals continue to deliver and we have the final leg of delivering our transformation. And we have today come out also saying that we now are completing the brand's first approach to drive speed and impact, really drive speed and impact and the full potential of the businesses. And we are separating the business areas into two different operational independent companies. And we keep our guidance for 2024 unchanged. That means that our comparable EBIT is expected to be slightly above 2023 level. So that's the key messages for today. As Nora was alluding, we have a slightly different agenda today. We'll start with Q3. Jussi will walk through Q3, the solid Q3 that we just reported. And then I'll talk about the strategic update, followed then by a Q&A. But over to you, Jussi.

Thank you, Natalie, and hello, everyone. As already mentioned, we had a solid quarter here. We improved profitability despite the lower volumes. Our top line reported net sales, including also Georg Jensen now for Q3, we were up 6.1%. Organically, we were down 7.3%. More importantly, we succeeded to improve both profit and profitability, especially now in Q3 versus last year. Our EBIT went up 6.4 million to 24.3, and EBIT margin over 2% point up to 9.5%. When it comes to businesses, and I'll walk you through them a bit later, on EBIT, EBITDA was down, FISCUS was up versus last year, and then this other segment was back to normal level versus last year. The main drivers for this improvement were gross margin improvements. So we succeeded on quarterly basis, improved gross margin to 48.1 from last year's 47.2. Also on the year-to-date basis, we were 1.7 points up versus last year at level of 48.5. Free cash flow was down due to the net working capital phasing, and I'll get back to that also later. And our comparable earnings per share was one cent up to 16 cents. And of course, cash flow per share, or cash earnings per share, was at break-even level, reflecting cash flow. When it comes to Q3 comparable EBIT, as I said, it improved to this 24.3 million. If you take a more analytical view and then move to year-to-date EBIT bridge here, we succeeded to secure our performance, secure year-to-date EBIT through strong performance management. And let me walk you through how it actually went. We started the second half 10 million behind last year. Now in Q3, we succeeded to catch up 6 million out of that. So on a year-to-date basis, we are 4.1 million behind last year. But when we open that up more in detail, you can see here that the saving actions we have put in place in 2023, also this year continue driving those savings, they delivered over 30 million EBIT improvement there, which was then practically fully offset by lower volumes. Then also depreciation, amortization, mainly our historical investments in digital IT took down to profitability. Georg Jensen 3.9 million contribution to our year to date EBIT there, bearing in mind that typically the first nine months of Georg Jensen in the past has been at break even or even loss making like it was in 2023. So this shows that we have succeeded to significantly improve performance in Georg Jensen. Then more on BAs. So Viitta was up 16.5% there, including Jorg Jensen, 10.1% down organically. And then on EBIT, EBIT was down 4.2 million due to those low volumes, which were partially offset by the savings, what we have achieved also in Viitta business. Some highlights there. both Royal Copenhagen and Moomin delivered a strong growth in Q3. And that's just so, especially when it comes to Moomin Arabia, that we have strong momentum in that business. On Fiscus BA, our top line was down 4.9% comparable basis, 4.5 reported. US, which is the biggest market for Fiscus BA, roughly half of our Fiscus BA business is in USA. USA was down due to the softness in sellout. On the other hand, Germany and Nordics, especially Germany there, we don't see any strong improvement there when it comes to consumer sentiment. So we succeeded to grow strongly in Germany due to the actions we have put in place, more distribution, more categories and the likes. All the commercial excellence actions have been in place both in Nordics and Germany to improve top line. In Fiscus BA, we succeeded to improve EBIT by 2.5 million. and the drivers were both improving gross margin and SG&A savings than Fiscus BA. Moving from P&L to cash flow, as I mentioned, our free cash flow in Q3 was negative of 16.9 million. This is mainly due to phasing of trade payables, the phasing coming from both ends of Q3, both from Q2 to Q3, and then also what we paid now in Q3 instead of Q4. So this is very much this kind of phasing issue now between the quarters. When it comes to net debt EBITDA, it was slightly up to 2.8 times, the target being this 2.5 or lower. This 2.8 is now ahead of our seasonally strongest cash flow quadrant. So the historical pattern of a cash flow is that typically Q4 is the strongest, and therefore we assume that we also get net debt EBITDA back to the more targeted level now in Q4. cash conversion is still at healthy level. When it comes to our financial targets, the four targets there from net sales growth, profitability, cash flow and balance sheet, we can continue saying what we have said in many times, that those enablers, cash flow and balance sheet, remain healthy level, strong level even when it comes to cash flow conversion on rolling 12 months basis. So they can enable the future investments what we have in growth. EBIT margin 9.1% on rolling 12 months basis. I would say it's not bad, but it's going a bit wrong directions there. Very much reflecting the challenging operating environment there and low volumes. What you can see also here when we talk about organic net sales, which was down 4.4% on rolling 12 months basis. Then about those saving programs. So we announced two programs last year. We started one in January and then September. When it comes to SG&A, part of those saving plans, the SG&A part is now completed. The actions are implemented. We still enjoy and benefit from those programs also in Q4. But this kind of incremental improvement when it comes to SG&E efficiency start gradually declining. When it comes to supply chain actions, there we still have to deliver. And we can see that Q4 and also 2025, the programs continue delivering profitability improvement. The new structure, Natali will walk it through more in detail a bit later, with this new structure, they are further enabling savings there throughout simplification. We expect that additional annual run rate of those cost saving plans is approximately 12 million, starting already in 2025. So majority of the savings should be now in the year 2025 numbers, the rest being in 2026. The expected one-off relating to this organizational change is now 8 million, and that will be recorded during the transition period until first quarter of 2026. When it comes to the model itself, the decentralized structure will also improve flexibility and speed of executions, which is not yet visible in all those numbers. Having said that, giving back to you, Natalie.

Thank you, Jussi. So, as I said, that's Q3, another solid quarter, improving profitability despite lower volumes. And now I'm going to give you a strategic update where the business is heading. I'm first going to talk about the market and also the rationale why we are doing now the split into the two operationally independent companies. I'm starting by looking at what does Fiskars and Vita look like. They're two distinct, different businesses, and they have good performance despite the current soft market. If I start with Fiskars, Fiskars is a market leader in its own categories. Fiskars is very innovation driven. We have over the years won more than 64 Red Dot Design Awards. That's quite an achievement. And here in my hand, I also have a upcoming launch of a water bottle from Fiskars. So that's more tactical products for the innovation side. Our sales primarily, and you see from the chart, 97% is through big box players, third party retailers, the likes of Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's and so on. Our key customers are the number one, number two, number three players in the big countries. Bauhaus, Amazon and so on. And US is clearly the largest country for Fiskars. So that's Fiskars. Then when we look at Vita. Vita has a unique portfolio of luxury and premium lifestyle brands. Vita is known for its creative design. And Vita sales is also in our own hands. It's direct to consumer led. Half of the net sales is in our own channels, our own stores. We have today more than 450 stores globally and online. So direct consumer led. Viita also has much higher gross margins, also by the nature of the direct consumer business. And Viita is a clear market leader, for example, in China in tableware. Today already, the share of luxury net sales in Viita is 65% of the totality. So we have Fiskars innovation driven together with big box players globally. We have Vita direct to consumer driven, a lot of luxury of the net sales. So two distinct different businesses. And the group focuses on rigorous performance management, fund and allocation, where do we invest to drive growth, profitability and cash. Then a few words about China. There's a lot of discussion about China now and where is the market going? And this is from what we are seeing. We see that China market continues to be attractive despite the uncertainty we're seeing at the moment. Already in the first half, we saw that traffic in the key luxury shopping malls was substantially down, double digit down. Apologies. We see that customers are more price sensitive and they're also cautious buyers when they're doing luxury purchases. It takes longer time for the decision. The good government stimulus packages that came in October, we still don't see the impact in the consumer goods in our field. What is going to be a big event is the double 11 that's already started now and has been extended in China in the China market into one month instead of being only 11th of November. And then in December we start and the market starts to prepare for Chinese New Year in January. So that's the uncertain market at the moment in China. The long term structural opportunity in China remains attractive. Today, roughly 22 to 24% of the whole luxury consumption in the world is in China. And that's foreseen to grow to 35 to 40% of the global consumption of luxury by 2030. So huge structural continued growth of luxury in China. We also see that the middle class and affluent consumer population will increase to 80 million by 2030. So big booming growing market in the long term. And we in Vita, we have strong fundamentals in place. We are benefiting from the brand desire. Wedgwood is clearly number one in its category in China. And we started with Wedgwood, and now we are accelerating a broader portfolio. Royal Copenhagen we introduced to the market in 2021, and that's growing. And now, following the acquisition of Georg Jensen, we are accelerating also Georg Jensen in China. So we have brands in our portfolio that we can take to China. China, our business in China is totally direct-to-consumer led. We have more than 50 5-0 owned stores in China. And it's these stores in a strong combination with omni-channel interaction with the e-comm that we're having. So it's a direct-to-consumer led omni-channel interaction. How we operate in China is also a direct China first approach. We have product innovation, we have product design, unique pieces that are made for China, for the consumer in China, and also how we communicate, how we market, how we interact with WeChat and so on. That's all designed for the local consumer in China. And making this all possible is, of course, our strong, strong, very strong local Chinese team. China for us in Fiskars Group is a Vita country only. So it's Vita that we have there. And for Vita, it's a top five country. Despite the uncertainties in the Chinese market, we've been able to drive a year-to-date growth of 3% in China. So good long-term prospects in China. Then looking at the world's biggest consumer goods market, US, there's been headwinds. But at the same time, we see that our own platform is increasingly strong. In our categories, there's been low consumer confidence, despite the strong economic fundamentals in the US. We see that customers, our big box customers, our wholesale departments and department stores, they're more prudent and there's a new normal. When we talk about the prudency, Black Friday now in November is going to be very crucial. Our big customers are looking, how is the consumer sentiment? How's the traffic for Black Friday before they then replenish for the holiday season? Of course, the first fill up of the shelves have happened already before Black Friday now. But then Black Friday is very determinative how the whole holiday season will go. We also say when we talk about the new normal, and that's how we are now just assuming this is a new normal, is that customers continue to be very strict on inventory and cash management. For BA fiskars, our big box players, our DIY customers, they are cautious with their own communicated outlooks. For BA Vita, we see that the US is really a market driven by affluence and a strong gifting culture, a totally different gifting culture that we see, for example, in Europe, despite the headwinds. Then how are we performing as a company? Our platform is becoming increasingly strong. Fiskars brand is clearly the number one market leader in the US in its categories, a market share of between 20 to 40%, depending on the category. Vita is strong with its heritage brands, for example Waterford, also thanks for the Irish heritage in the US. All of our brands have a premium positioning, driven by innovation and brand desire. And our relationship to the key accounts, the key customers, are deepening and continue to be stronger, also driven by innovation that we are bringing for the future. There's still a lot of potential for us in the US. Even though it's our biggest market for the whole of Fiskars Group, there's still a lot of runway. Because there's a lot of distribution points, we can still go to a lot of breadth and depth in how we can grow. For Fiskars Group, US, for Fiskars brand or Fiskars BA, it's the biggest country. And for Vita, it's also the fourth biggest country for Vita. So China booming, second largest consumer goods market in the world. US, the biggest one and very important for us in Fiskars Group. As you know, we've had challenges since the macroeconomics changed in the US for a while, and year-to-date growth is only minus 8%, so not where we want it to be. But we are focusing on the fundamentals to ensure it's strong when the market in our categories picks up. So then this is more the short term. Then looking at the long term, what's the prospects for Fiskars Group and the brands where we are playing? And if we're looking at the long-term dynamics and why we are attractive long-term, it's all about the powerful brands. Consumers are driven by powerful brands and they're willing to spend more and buy more of powerful brands. Also design and innovation is crucial. We see that innovative companies create three times, three X more value than peers who are not innovative. So full focus on innovation and design. Direct-to-consumer, that's already 50% of Vita, is also important. This is Vita-specific. Because in the direct-to-consumer channel, you can talk about your own story, the experience, the heritage, the uniqueness of the brand. Luxury, despite the uncertainty at the moment, especially driven by China, will remain attractive long-term, with a CAGR of 68%. That's also Vita-specific. And sustainability, that goes across all the board. It's at the core of the DNA of Fiskars Group. Sustainability is key for our strategy, and we know that consumers are concerned about sustainability, and we are there to make their choices easier on sustainability. So this is the current market trends in China, US, and also the long-term dynamics behind Fiskars and Viitta. Then looking at our strategy. We have been really systematic since we started our transformation in 2021 to systematically execute our strategy and continue to transform the company. We have the transformation levers that are making the company stronger. I will soon show it. We've also sharpened our portfolio logic with creel roles for each brand, clear investment logic. And we've seen that our operating model has been evolving and now we are completing the brand first approach. So this has been a systematic journey since 2021. Looking at the transformation levers that are delivering, here you see the journey we've been on. If we start with the gross margin, and Jussi already mentioned that the gross margin improvement quarter by quarter has been significant. And here you see the trajectory since we started in late 2020. This is driven by channel mix, product mix, like said, innovation, and also by supply chain, the great work supply chain is doing to drive cost down. So we made our foundation much stronger with this fantastic development of the gross margin and will continue to evolve. We are not going to stop here. When we started in 2021, we also said we want to focus on direct-to-consumer because that's a future place for consumers in Vita. And we see today that 50% of the net sales in Vita is direct-to-consumer led. So also there we've focused and we are delivering and making Vita stronger for the future, more future-proof. China, I already spoke about, we've tripled the net sales over a few years and the CAGR now is roughly 50%. That's pretty good. And if we look at the LTM figures, it's a 5% growth. So China has been very good for us. We've focused a lot on it and it's delivering. US has been the challenge and we'll continue to focus on US because the opportunity in US is so big and we know the fundamentals we now have in place are strong. So when the market recovers in our categories, we are in a good position. So the transformation journey we started in 2021 really has made our brands, our business much stronger for the future. Then look at the portfolio roles. This we launched last year in November, in the Capital Markets Day, where we said that we have clear roles for each brand. We have clear investment logic. And what we are doing with this investment and resource allocation logic, we want to enhance value. We want to make the big brands bigger. We want to surround the consumer with category expansion, like that that we do in all brands. And for the Vita brands, we want to command high-end positioning and also expand direct consumer. We have our brands we call Accelerate, the three large luxury brands, where we over-invest to drive the growth. So we over-invest in Wedgwood, Georg Jensen, Royal Copenhagen to drive the growth faster. For Fiskars, that's a huge brand, our biggest brand. We have now a very good strategy in place and want to unlock the potential by having a detailed strategy for the different categories, the different countries to unlock the growth potential of Fiskars. Maximized potential brands are the brands that are already performing well, already delivering. And when we say this is like a helicopter, the better you do, the faster you can invest yourself back into the business. Having launched this portfolio logic last year, we already see impact. And we see, for example, when we look at Viitta here on the right side and in the corner, We've seen that the share of luxury net sales in the Vita portfolio has substantially increased and is today 65% LTM of our net sales in Vita. So also the portfolio logic, the focus on investment is driving value. It's not only the transformation levers portfolio logic that we are doing. We've also focused on M&A. M&A is now part of a toolbox and M&A will continue to be an important value driver for us going forward. As you know, we purchased Georg Jensen first of October last year. So one year ago we purchased Georg Jensen. I think that's a good way of showing how we are reshaping our portfolio with systematic and disciplined approach to M&A. So Georg Jensen is a good case example. When we identify and acquire potential targets, we really look at the strategic fit. Then in the case of Georg Jensen, it also gave us the expansion opportunity into jewellery. After closing the deal last October, we have had no surprises in post-closing. And we've gotten on board complementary capabilities and culture. So, very good strategic fit. We were also, with the systematic approach, able to acquire Gauguin's attractive valuation. Our EV, EBITDA multiple with cost synergies was 4.7. So quite attractive acquisition. And we also reported negative transaction goodwill. So that's how we identify and acquire. When we integrate, we focus on driving the performance of the business case we have in place. And the purchase of GeoGensan was very well received by key customers. And we've been in a business as usual mode already since July. So we did the integration in nine months. That's pretty fast. The only remaining thing is still IT integration. So we are on track with synergy realization. We have said that we are driving 18 million euros of synergies out of the Georg Jensen acquisition. And Jussi was previously in his year to date EBIT bridge showing the EBIT coming already now from Georg Jensen, which is quite a big swing from when they previously year to date would have been making break even or negative figures already now making positive driven by the synergies. And 75% of the synergies are in implementation. And we've also reduced, that was very quick in the beginning of the acquisition, 10% net of the headcount, both from Jørgensen and Vita's side. So now we are business as usual, fully operational. There's a lot of complementary strengths from both of us. We see a lot more streamlined structure with improved clarity on the portfolio, on the brand, where we want to play on the strategy. We've gotten on board a lot of fantastic talents and also been able for our own Vita Fiskars Group talents to offer new leadership opportunities. So the business is in better shape now. And this, I think, is a good example of our M&A toolbox that we have in place. So then coming back to our journey of going towards brand first. We are today completing, or we are announcing today that we are completing our brands first approach. And that means that we are separating the business areas into two independent companies. If I walk you through the evolution since 2021, and as I said, this has been very focused on how we've done the transformation of the company. We started as quite a heavy matrix organization, quite functionally led, quite centrally led. Already last year in November, in the Capital Markets Day 2023, We said that we are focusing on end-to-end accountability for the BAs, Fiskars and Viita. And they are fully owners of the business with P&L accountability and then only have scalable platforms that support. And today we've announced that we are completing this brand first approach. And why brand first? This is what's relevant for consumers. This is really the DNA of a brand company who wants to be innovative, who wants to drive innovation design to be a brand first, to be relevant for the consumers and our fantastic customers as well. So we are splitting now the remaining functions into Fiskars, the new company Fiskars, the new company Vita. These new operational independent companies will be run by their own CEOs. We will have a narrow layer of group business services, less than 3% of our headcount, who will drive efficiencies in certain IT and certain finance services. And then we have the group that's focused on portfolio management, fund allocation and driving growth through the fund allocations and also driving performance. That's a very lean group, less than 1% of net sales. So this is now what we are doing in completing our brands first approach. The benefits of this is it's really speed and agility to drive impact. We will have end-to-end, the CEOs of these own companies, Vita and Fiskars, they will have full control of their business. They are the owners of the business, so it's ownership culture also here. They will have the flexibility and the speed to manage their own company, what's right for their brands in their local markets. There's also dedication. We are going to accelerate the different growth opportunities. And as I showed in the beginning, Vita and Fiskars are very different businesses. They have different growth opportunities. Their full growth potential is different. And also the investment needs are different. So in this way, we are de-averaging, we are dedicating so that they can be much faster and deliver value and impact. Also, it will be much more transparent. What's the performance of Vita? What's the performance of Fiskars? We will have much more precise targets and the capital allocation from the group side. And this will then be the operationally independent legal entities, which will enable us also then in the future to have structural optionality. I want to give you an example of commercially, how does this already work? Because we have one example in Fiskars Group. We have many examples, but I'll give you one example. One example of this brand-first approach, where we have seen it winning, is already Moomin Arabia. Moomin Arabia has really been already operating, I would say, the last two, three years as a brands first, quite the own standalone team who've been giving the mandate to run, as the portfolio role says, maximize potential. And with this mindset, this autonomy that they've had and full P&L accountability, they've been able to drive category expansion fast. A few years ago, boom in Arabia was only ceramics or mainly ceramics. Today, already 20% of the net sales is textiles. So the category expansion has been really turbo charged by having a brand's first mentality. We've also been able to expand the channel expansion, expand distribution. And as an example, We've opened eight new Moomin Arabia brand stores only in this year, year to date, both in the Nordics and then in Japan. And also the country expansion has been much faster with the brands first mentality, where we see that Moomin Arabia has been growing with Barnes and Noble in the US. And we see that already today, Moomin Arabia net sales more than 50% is in international sales. So with the brands first and with clear building blocks, we see that the dedicated independent team has been able to deliver with this speed, good impact. And we'll continue to do this now in the setup with Fiskars and Vita. Moomin Arabia's CAGR in the last years has been 11%, quite impressive figures from the team. So it shows that we have really good growth pockets, growth engines within Fiskars Group. And then to wrap up, the key message is Q3, another solid quarter in a tough market. We were able to improve the profitability despite the lower volumes and had an all-time high gross margin in Q3. Our transformation levers are delivering and are making us much stronger for the future, and we are at the final leg. Therefore, today we have announced that we have a brands first approach to deliver speed and impact to the businesses that they can grow where they deserve to grow. And we are separating the business areas into two operationally independent companies with their own CEOs. And then the guidance for the year remains unchanged. We see the comparable EBIT will be slightly above last year's level and still on guidance as said it's unchanged and the assumptions behind the guidance is that we continue to see uncertainty in the market macroeconomic continues to be challenging, we see wage inflation has already for a long time been elevated. At the same time, what Jussi also showed in the very good year-to-date bridge, you see that the savings that we've done through the completed programs, they are delivering And also further cost efficiencies to improve the operating operations is delivering in Q4. Following the acquisition of GeoGensen, we see that our group EBIT has significantly shifted to the end of the year, to Q4. And that's now really relevant now in 2024. And during this period, the vitas volumes are expected to play a significant role. And we also expect that they are going to be around the levels of last year. But this seasonal pattern is very important and the vita volumes for Q4. And with that, let's go for the Q&A.

Thank you, Natalie and Jussi. So we do already have quite a few questions, but you can keep them coming as we go. I think first we could tackle the news of today. Maybe, Natalie, you can start. We touched on this in the presentation, but perhaps a bit more color. So you are separating business areas into independent operations. Should we read this as higher P&L responsibilities within the current business areas? Is business development run independently going forward?

Yes, business development for Fiskars and Vita is independent in their own companies, driven by their own CEOs. Yes, and also their full potential strategies there. What we then do from a group point of view We are focusing on portfolio management. We are portfolio managers of the companies we own in Fiskars Group. And we are also the ones who allocate funds. So in that sense, we can drive growth in both Vita and Fiskars.

Great, thank you. And then perhaps a bit more on the practical side also, Nathalie. So given that Fiskars and Vita are already quite independent, what will be the practical change in the plan announced today? Will they build also separate logistics and warehouse, for example?

What's the practical impact? So what we are doing, and you saw that on one of the slides, when we are now moving the functions into BA Vita and BA Fiskars, and we are having areas where we are sharing logistics, for example, we will not separate them, but Vita or Fiskars will sell that service to the sister company. So, of course, not doing unnecessary disenergies. That doesn't make sense. But it's not costs that are allocated. It's really that then the other business can decide I want to buy that service from my sister company.

Great, thank you. And then perhaps one more on the topic. So how will the organization change enable 12 million euros cost cuts, given there was little overlap to begin with, with Fiskars and Vita? Or is this more general cost cutting?

On this cost savings, it really comes to this that For the brands, what do the brands really need to grow? And what are things that maybe in the past have been more from an overall Fiskars Group level where we have been trying to do both for both. So this comes from simplified and thinking about what are the needs of the businesses. And you saw also when I talked about what is Fiskars and Vita, they are very different. Fiskars has huge, huge customers per country. Vita is direct to consumer. So now when we de-average how we operate, that's when we find the savings.

Yeah, great. Thank you. And then perhaps moving to Q3, maybe Jussi, you can take this. So inventories were up year over year. What is the reason for higher inventories?

Of course, it's bearing in mind the last year when we succeeded to cut inventories significantly. So there's this kind of natural bounce back also partially for that one. on a long-term basis, we continue driving down the inventory level. So I would call this more like this kind of because of a very good comparative type of topic.

Yeah. Great. Thank you. And then regarding maybe for Nathalie, also Q3, why do you think the sales in the US deteriorated sequentially in Q3?

In Q3, it really comes also when we look at, if I start with Fiskars, now going forward, we are also always going to be very specific. This is Fiskars, this is Vita. With Fiskars, when we look at our big box players in the US, they have also come out with a weaker outlook for the full year. And it talks about the consumer behavior in DIY segment. So that's on the Fiskars side. Then on the Vita side, which is more luxury, We see that, and also driven more by luxury department stores in the US, we see that the traffic is down and the consumer sentiment is down in the categories and the kind of products that we are selling now in this market environment.

Thank you. So then moving on to sort of M&A and Georg Jensen topics. Perhaps first a bit more general question to Natalie. So you stated that now M&A is a part of the toolbox. Does this mean that your view and appetite for M&A has now changed compared to what you've communicated before?

I reiterate what I've communicated before. Like Jussi showed our financial targets where we said that our net debt EBITDA, our target is below 2.5. We are not there yet. But Jussi also said that we are coming into a strong cash flow season in Q4. So first we need to get the NetDepth EBITDA to our target level, and then we'll start to use our toolbox. But we are very systematic. We want to ensure that we identify and acquire the right targets, so not to rush.

Thank you. And then regarding Georg Jensen synergies, you continue. Can you give an update? What's your run rate with Georg Jensen synergies in end Q3 and what is expected in end of 2024?

Yeah, I'll start and then I hand over to Jussi. Like we said in July already, when we came out with Q2, was 75% of the 18 million euros of cost-out synergies in Georgiansen were already in implementation. Why do I say implementation and not implemented? It's because many of them are volume driven. For example, when we have negotiated new terms with suppliers in sourcing, those don't materialize before we get the volumes in place. So action execution wise, we are nearly completed, except what I said, the IT. But we don't see the true run rate yet. And maybe you can comment.

Yeah, exactly. The last tale what we have left is mainly related to IT. And on IT, now that we announced this operationally separate legal entities and the likes, we need to focus on how we succeed to get those benefits out from Georgiansen IT integration as well as setting up those separate legal entities. So I would say this further accelerates of having those savings in home.

Maybe Jussi, you can continue. There's also a question of when do we expect to reach the full run rates?

Also, I'm referring to our stock exchange list today when we said that the setup will be up and running now on 1st of April 2025 onwards. The legal entity setup, however, will be ready ideally after first quarter 2026. So I would say then we have a full well-functioning platform we can accelerate the synergies.

Great, thank you. Then looking towards the end of the year, can you enlighten us how much visibility you have for Q4 and what kind of consumer market do you envision for the important Q4 season?

Yeah, on Q4, like I said, it's very dependent on Black Friday. This is a global phenomenon. Our big customers are looking, what is the traffic in Black Friday? What is the traction? How do consumers behave online and so on? And it's not purely only on our category. It's much broader consumer behavior. And from there on, they do the replenishment for Christmas. Of course, we've filled all the shelves for Christmas already, but then I'm talking more about the replenishment. Then when it comes to Vita, with 50% of our net sales in direct to consumer, it's very dependent on consumer sentiment. What is the consumer sentiment and what is the purchasing patterns for the gifting season, for the holiday season? So that's the whole world. China is a bit different because they have the double 11 event that's already started now for the 11th of November. That's the main event. And then uploading of Chinese New Year in December. Chinese New Year is in end of January 2025.

Great. And we only have one more question left. So if you have any further questions, please do type in them now. So this is also regarding Q4 and a bit more on the general cost savings. So I don't know, perhaps Jussi, you want to take that? So going into Q4, how much net cost savings potential from profit improvement measures do you have left when taking into account e.g. wage inflation?

As I mentioned, year-to-date savings are over 30 million there, out of which SG&A roughly 17, supply chain savings roughly 14. We still see that we are benefiting from those actions, what we have made in SG&A side, so there are savings flowing in. However, the incremental increase in those savings is now somewhat stabilizing. When it comes to supply chain, there I have a strong confidence in our supply chain organization that the plans which we are still executing, they continue delivering savings, not only in Q4 this year, but also 2025. So we savings overall flowing in Q4, maybe the incremental improvement rate is now somewhat stabilizing from the previous quarter.

And we did just get one more question. Perhaps you'll see you continue on this. So the other segment EBIT loss was small in Q3. Will we see an uptick in Q4? And is there any changes to the annual run rate?

The guidance we have given for this segment, where we have real estate, group functions and the likes, is that the underlying negative EBIT per month is in the range of 1 million to 1.5 million. And that guidance holds. That's our normal underlying cost that we have in that segment. Now that it was roughly 2 million now in Q3, There are some, we talk about hundreds of case type of auto-operating income, which we thought coming in in Q4, they come in now in Q3. But overall, I would say that that guidance holds and it gives also a good proxy for a full year.

Great. Well, thank you very much. That's it for questions. But please, if you have any further questions, don't hesitate to reach out to the IR team. But now I hand over to Natalie for some closing words.

Thank you, Nora, and thank you for the many good questions. Wrapping up, another solid quarter for Fiskars Group, Q3, higher profits despite the lower volumes and all-time high gross margin. We are at the final leg of our transformation and today we have announced the brand's first approach when we are moving into having two operationally independent legal companies headed by their own CEO to drive speed and impact for future growth. And we keep our guidance intact. We also, like you're seeing here on the slide, we're also celebrating 375 years and the real anniversary is next week. So that's who we are in Fiskars Group. But thank you for the good discussion today and take care.

Thank you.