Fiskars Oyj Abp

Hello, and welcome to Fiskars Group's due for and full year 2025 results webcast. My name is Essi Lipponen, and I'm the Director of Investor Relations. I'm here with our President and CEO, Jyri Luomakoski, and our CFO, Jussi Siitanen. Let's look at the agenda for this webcast. Jyri will start with the key takeaways of the quarter and the year. After that, Jussi will continue with the financials. Then back to Jyri, who will go through business area development and also talk a bit about how this year looks like. After that, we will have plenty of time for your questions, and we will welcome questions both through the phone lines and through the chat. You can type in your questions in the chat already during the presentation. Please go ahead, Jyri.

Thank you, Essi, and good morning. Just briefly before we dive into the numbers and what's been happening in our two businesses, key takeaways, there are some highlights, some lowlights, as always in life. What we think was really important that our Vita business area actually had both Q3 and Q4, two consecutive quarters, and that brought also the group numbers to a, what I would call a green or black zero in terms of top line. This we need to bring into the context of Vita having had before this two growth quarters, more than 10 quarters of negative growth or flat top line. And of course, as we started in the summer, Focusing on cash flow that those efforts were bearing fruit and the cash flow in the fourth quarter was also Quite strong and you see we'll go deeper into into how how strong and record-breaking that was But of course the low light is that our comparable a bit declined and that was impacted by our own actions predominantly, i.e. curtailing our production to manage the inventories, to manage cash, and this had a price tag consequently on the EBIT. This morning we also announced our plans to turn around on BAV plus performance and also we'll address that a bit more in depth in a few minutes. The board made their proposal to the AGM and that is to maintain a stable dividend as our policy is saying, stable or growing, 84 cents per share to be paid in four installments. And 26 uh we expect our comparable a bit to improve from the 25 level but that was the key kind of highlights key takeaways as an intro and uh happy to hand over to you please thank you and hello hello everyone let's start first with q4 and then go go to the full year here uh when it comes to net and uh and it says there as you mentioned uh

We were able to report positive growth now in Q4, 1.3% at constant currencies. It was very much driven by Vita. The good thing also is that this growth was very broad-based. When we take our top 10 countries at group level, seven out of top 10 countries were growing, including USA, Sweden, Japan, China, Australia being the ones which were at this kind of mid-even to high signal digit type of growth. On EBIT, we came down 10 million versus last year. Out of this approximately 10 million, a bit more than 4 million was data-related. The remaining part was quite evenly split between Fiscus BA and other operations. Gross margin came down 200 basis point to 47.4. Roughly 150 of this 200 basis point was data-related. And as Yuri mentioned, the focus, what we have had in second half, especially now in Q4, was there on the cash flow. And we are able to report now all-time high Q4 free cash flow. And actually this Q4 was the second best quarterly cash flow overall in the recent history of this company. Moving then to full year results. So here we came out with a flat top line. And despite the flat top line, we had countries with solid full year, high signal digit, even double digit growth, like Sweden, Japan, and China. On EBIT, we were down 35 million versus last year at 76.4. There were three main reasons for this drop what we had in EBIT. The big one and the main one is low production volumes and negative variances, especially in Vita. Then we had more investment in demand creation, especially in marketing. That's one topic there. And tariffs, which we were then able to partially mitigate, but that was the third big reason. When it comes to full-year gross margin of 47.1 there, which was 170 points down versus last year, probably 100 basis points out of that 170 was tariff-related. And despite the strong second half, especially Q4, free cash flow, our first half cash flow was rather challenging until for the full year we were short roughly 5 million versus last year. Let's dive a bit deeper at these changes, what we had in full year when it comes to EBIT. And let's start here on the right, BA Fiscos. So BA Fiscus, as you can see here, the tariff impact what we had, BA Fiscus was able to fully practically mitigate the negative tariff impacts there, mainly through the OPEX efficiency improvement, but also the underlying gross margin, excluding the direct tariff impacts, improved in 2025. Then Vista, here in the middle, you can see this gross margin and negative impact there coming from those low production volumes. What I would like to highlight here that is very production volume related, not sales volumes. Therefore, this kind of promotional sales, what we have had, they have mainly been there for those categories which are end of the line anyhow. So the big decline is very much production volumes. Moving then to the cash flow, as I mentioned, we were able to deliver strong Q4 cash flow of 91.5 million here, 22 million better than last year in Q4. That's mainly driven by changing inventories. So we were able to take inventories down in Q4 by 35 million approximately, which is almost the same amount more than what we had last year in the same period. Also to type capex control what we put in place, we were able to cut capex by 6 million versus last year same period. And then on a full year basis, however, the inventories continued increasing by 11 million on a full year basis. They also, the capex was partially compensating or reduced capex was partially compensating this one, but the full year cash flow of 76.3 million is some 5.5 million behind the last year. Then on balance sheet, so net debt to EBITDA, we came down in Q4 from 3.7x to 3.3x in one period. Net debt came down 92 million in Q4. And out of this 92 million, roughly 20 million is relating to lease terminations, and the rest, roughly 70 million, is pure cash flow-driven improvement, what we had there. Of course, this 3.3 is not what we have given as a target of 2.5, but important is that we are now able to demonstrate a declining trend there when it comes down at the DPTA. Then the last but not least, when it comes to our sustainability targets there, if we start first with focus more here on those environmental targets, we were able to improve slightly. Our circularity targets being 50% by 2030. 50% of our production services are coming from circulated materials. So now it's 27%. So we are well up to speed to this 50% target by 2030. Of course, all these kind of, I would say, low-hanging ones are already implemented. So getting the target is getting challenging and challenging as we speak. When it comes to emission, both scope one and two, we were able to improve. Now it's 62%, target being 60% by 2030. So it seems that we are already there. However, this is very volume-related and volume-driven. And now when the volume has been a bit down, also dispersion is improving. Once the volume are increasing, the 60% remains to be a good target. The only environmental target where we are behind last year relates to Scope 3i emissions for transportation. Now it was 18%. The main reason is both sea and road freight in USA, partially because of higher volumes, partially also because of the way our carriers defined these emissions. That's very shortly where we are with the numbers, and now giving it back to you, Jyri.

Thank you, Jyri. What's been up in our business is VITA. It is growth that we mentioned and also the comparable EBIT decline and what was the key driver there. So 4.6% top line growth in Q4 and 3% for the full year. This is, of course, a prerequisite that we have growth helps turning the business around. When we look at sources of growth, D2C sales performance was good, and both Danish brands, Georg Jensen, Royal Copenhagen, performed nicely, as did Moomin Arabia. Of these two, celebrated also big birthdays, Royal Copenhagen got 250 years last year, and Moomin, as a character, filled 80. and when we look at the drivers behind the top line you see already mentioned and we've been reading in many reports around our company that the decline in profitability would be relating to the inventory actions in terms of sellout but that's not really the case it is really the scale down of production and as a consequence, when you start to curtail a production, you have still fixed costs that are not absorbed by the inventory and they are expensed immediately. So it's been very active and deliberate actions that we've been doing. This morning's announcement, big changes planned for Viitta. and clearly we want to reset the brand with a structure that is meeting our ambitions, building global iconic desirable brands, and scale for profitable growth. It involves also structural changes in terms of some business unit combinations, which are not impacting the market. kind of sales end necessarily, but more the back office and the overhead structures within Viitta. And that's extremely important. We also mentioned a few moves already that are now kicked off in terms of manufacturing in Denmark, moving our distribution center from the U.S. East Coast to more kind of e-comm optimized location, and at the same time outsourcing it, so creating a more of a variable cost structure there. So these are the key kind of actions, but then what do we expect as a result out of here? We expect a net reduction of approximately 310 rolls when the program is completed. This means then upon completion, we will then have annual savings of around 28 million. And of these in H2, as we have now announced the program and the plans, this triggers employee and union rep consultations in different geographies. They take their time, then having after those processes, conclusions and taking then the actions that those consultations have arrived to means that the economic benefits of the plan program start to trigger in the second half. So approximately one third of the 28 million is expected to be income statement effective and impact our profitability in this 26 in this year, but that happening really in the second half of the year. And then of the rest, there will be some tails flowing into 28, but the majority of the rest in 27. Our estimates of the one-off costs, which would be recorded as items affecting comparability, is in the magnitude of about 9 million. Some highlights in the business. I mentioned Royal Copenhagen's 250-year anniversary. The big event in Copenhagen at our flagship stores, which is attracting a lot of people, is the Christmas tables settings, and that's really drawing crowds and keeping the interest up in the brand. Moomin Arabia launched actually the largest collection, Festive Moments, and that was subject to pretty high demand because the mugs were sold out. during December. That's what the desirable brand is. Collaboration between a fashion brand, JW Anderson, and Wedgewood also delivered good engagement and commercial traction. And for New Year's Eve, if you happen to spend it at Times Square in New York, you would have noticed the Waterford crystal ball. coming down, and that's also now visible in the shop-in-shop at Macy's flagship in New York at Herald Square. So market kind of being more active and visible in the market, and as we see from the growth numbers, these things also bear fruit, which is extremely important. Moving to BA fiscars, decline in the top line, and tariffs, we were pretty much in the epicenter of the tariff topic as a business with our significant exposure to the US market. So comparable net sales declined 7% in Q4. Snow came a bit late for the fourth quarter in Europe and in the Nordics, which is a big kind of a seasonal market for snow tools in those years where there's a lot of snow and 4.6% for the full year. And tariff uncertainties recall last spring when the tariffs kicked in. That was a big situation where consumers were confused and trade was confused, what's going to happen, et cetera. Excellent mitigation work by our teams, and things started to stabilize. And as you mentioned, in the U.S., actually, at the end, our business was growing. And this tariff mitigation has been an important achievement and extremely critical for having what I would call still having seen some of our competitors and peer companies reports. I think we can be proud about the margins we've been able to sustain also despite the top line decline. Some highlights. Already in November, we arranged a Get to Know BIA Fiskars event for investors, and those materials have been available to the public. Petcare line has been well received by the market. That's important. Now it's about minus 10 centigrade in Helsinki. A lot of snow, and many other European geographies are also freezing. So Fiskars Power, which is now the first products have been shipped actually to stores. It's not yet the high season for these products. I don't know where I would use it, even though I'm definitely myself also personally going to buy one. But this is a type of sample. The slide was not wide enough to bring the entire innovation fireworks to the slide, but many, many good and nice things that have gained shelf space and traction in the market are coming from our Fiskars business area. With the financial statements release, the board also announced their proposal to the annual general meeting of maintaining the dividend at 84 cents This is when you look at the payout ratio to EPS, indicating a very high payout ratio. We need to remember that these items also include our EPS write-offs and so forth. But then on cash earnings per share, about two-thirds is in line with the proposal to be. paid out, the change to earlier practice where we have been paying dividends in two installments, one in the spring, one in the autumn, is actually to get into payout per quarter, so March, June, September, December payout, also matching our cash flow pattern in our normal business seasonality better. Guidance, so We are expecting our comparable EBIT to improve from the 25 level. 25 level was 76.4. And what's behind that thinking? We recognize that the uncertainties in the global economy will persist also in 26. We clearly count for the EBIT support from the plan changes in VA VITA in the second half of the year. Our active tariff mitigation efforts have been successful last year, and based on that performance, we have a confidence that we will be also successful in 26. The flip side is that the inventories, even though we had a significant decline in our inventories, we want to further improve that networking capital item, and it will have some negative impact, and at the same time, we also know that the US tariffs, remembering that Liberation Day was in April 25, so right after the first quarter, the steel tariffs came into force in August, if I recall the date correct, and those impacts then annualize into 26. We do not give quarterly guidance, but I think it's important to remember these key aspects. Liberation Day, April, so Q1 last year's comps are pretty good. Second half impact from the VITA changes, and still tariffs started in the third quarter last year. So just to keep those in mind when you are modeling how the year would look like. We also, and this is maybe prophylactically addressing if there is a criticism that this is a fluffy guidance. Yes, it is to some extent, admittedly. But if we have started this morning in the first countries, change negotiations and similar consultation process with our employees on the VTAC program, they take their time and then to implement then the conclusions and the decisions as a consequence of those negotiations are topics that we thought that it's better be coming out now with this type of guidance and then when things advance and we know more on the precise kind of timing of certain actions and so forth, it always leaves us some room to clarify and specify more in depth the guidance. Some of our teams have been very active over also the last weekend advancing the technical part of our separation of BAs into subsidiaries. So those splits into entities in some major countries have also now taken place. So we think that we are well on schedule with our Q1 deadline having the legal structure behind the BAs also implemented. which then will also help us in terms of the transparency, measurability, for example, to the capital, exact capital employed in each of the businesses. So this is moving ahead as planned. And that's maybe the good segue to the paid commercial, so to speak. We are planning to arrange our Capital Markets Day on May 12th in Espoo, Finland, which would be then for institutional investors, analysts, and then, of course, online attendance open on a broad basis. And this is now the plan. A bit after we have completed the incorporation of the BAs and have more transparency also to shed some light into those aspects in May. Look forward to meeting you there. So in summary, key takeaways, top line growth in Vita, where that was not the routine and practice over the last prior 10 or 11 quarters. Now two consecutive ones is giving, of course, also forward-looking us confidence that we can grow. We know the elements for that cashflow important for managing our balance sheet and capital structure. EBIT decline last year, really driven in a big way by our own actions to focus on cash flow. So that's the other side of that coin. Definitely the VITA plans now go into negotiation and thereafter to execution, dividend staying stable, moving to a quarterly payout. on the dividend and then guidance growing or improving the comparable EBIT from last year. That takes us to Q&A.

Yes, thank you, Jussi and Jyri. Let's first see if we have any questions through the phone lines.

If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key 5 on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Maria Wickstrom from SEB. Please go ahead.

Yes, hello, this is Maria from SEB. I have three questions and I would like to take them one by one. So I'd like to start with the top line growth in Vita. So if you could discuss a little bit more specifically, I mean, which markets are you see performing better than the other markets? So which markets or geographies were behind the growth in the fourth quarter?

Yeah. Hi, Maria. Hi, Maria. So as I said, the growth was very broad-based, what we had in Q4, and bearing in mind that actually Fiscus came down and Vista was the one growing. So if I'm right, exactly nine out of ten top countries for Vista were growing. So it was broad-based, big countries covering 90% of the business. At the same time also when it comes to channels, so we were able to demonstrate a good growth also in direct-to-consumer, 8% total. And if we take e-commerce only, it was 16% up in Q4. So without going too much into each of the countries, these were the big channel growth and broad-based country growth.

Thank you. And then my question is relating to this quite sizable cost-saving program that you launched or announced today. And you have had, I mean, a lot of cost-saving actions also in the past years, but we really haven't seen the net impact on the EBIT line. So what would make you confident this time around that, I mean, making this large cost-saving effort that you will actually record the savings on the EBIT line?

And for me, having joined this role as interim in April, it is easy to say, We haven't fully agreed. We haven't been perfect in executing. Some of the old programs where it's been, yes, I've seen at that time as a board member that, yes, a lot of people have departed, but kind of gradually there's been some type of a revolving door filling back some of the positions. And that happens quite easily when you look at different businesses and these type of programs. What I think is the key differentiator here is that there are structural changes. Combining some of our business units, changing really the org structure and clarifying the accountabilities, but those structural changes drive then reductions in certain overhead functions and so forth in the marketplace. So that clearly drives the confidence that these are there to stick. And it's on a very frequent loop by group management, by our board, and definitely every quarter by the market that we are executing what we have promised.

Maria, on that one, so you're absolutely right. Bottom line matters. At the same time, what we have seen is quite interesting. quite I would say even dramatically top line drop what we have had. So therefore the losing the volumes at the same time driving fixed cost saving actions there, many of those actions are just there to mitigate the volume drop.

And then my final question is on the gearing. I think it surprised me and I think part of the market that the board of directors decided to keep the dividend flat compared to last year. Even though, I mean, the gearing is down, but we are still much above the target level at 3.3%. So when do you expect, I mean, to reach the targeted gearing level at 2.5 and what makes you so confident to pay out the last year's dividends with the current gearing level?

So you refer, I think, to the leverage here where we have set the target to be at maximum 2.5. And that target is still valid. Important is that we move towards that one. And of course, when the board considers the dividend proposal to the AGM, they inquire management and look at our long-term plans and the capital needs and also the confidence in our plans to further reduce inventories or improve our networking capital performance. And that's typically then having sat many years in the board on the other side of the table, so to speak, to drive the confidence what is something that's good and the right balance of rewarding shareholders, but at the same time being true to the targets that the company has set and the needs of the business. From that perspective, that has been basically the process.

Yeah. As I said, it was very encouraging what we did in Q4, getting netted down by 92 million out of 70. 70 million something was really cash flow driven, the remaining being those lease terminations. On that one, we have been also quite open, openly said that the potential what we have there in trade working capital No matter what are the measures, what are the KPIs you are using and benchmarks there based on our previous performance pre-COVID time, we do have roughly 100 million potential in our net working capital. The actions announced today are also targeting this excess inventories, excess working capital, what we have. So we do have sources available for internal funding.

Okay, perfect. I have no questions at this point. The next question comes from Joni Sandvall from Nordea. Please go ahead.

Yeah, thanks, Jyri and Jussef, for the presentation. Maybe continuing still with the cost savings program. Can you give any more color on the ride sizing of the business? I mean, are you expecting to exit some production site out of out of the Nordics, or how should we view this, and what is your actual target for, you know, own production levels in Vita BA?

The announcement does not list any exits per se, but rationalization, what we do and where. That's one of the key parameters here. And the aim is, of course, to right-size the production, the supply, to match the demand, and the fact that we still have inventories, as you see alluded to, that networking capital has some room to improve, and that's driving those. But they are now subject to the negotiations in different sites, and Consequently, after those negotiations, before I start to put dots onto the map, and then after that, we can give a bit more flavor and update on the geographic coordinates.

Okay, okay, thanks. Then maybe question on Fisker's BEA. There's been strong, you know, mitigation mitigation of the tariffs, but how confident are you now entering into 26 and how we should view the, you know, net impact from current steel tariffs and, you know, mitigation actions for 26?

Jooni, as I said, the impact what we had in 2025 and how they were mitigated mainly through DOPEX savings so that underlying gross margin improved. The toolbox is pretty much the same. The incremental impact of the tariffs, of course, is the whole Q1 when it comes to those liberation days tariffs and then impacts on the steel tariffs from August onwards. The plans for Fiscus VA has in place are still targeting to mitigate these impacts there. What's the magnitude there? I would say it's a bit less than what it was in 2025, but we are still talking about significant amount. We are now mitigating through those very resilient plans what Fiscus VA has put in place, including also this production refoot printing.

Okay, perfect. And maybe question also, you have now the new categories. first batches sent to the retailers. So, did you give any indication of what level of sales should we expect from these categories in 2016?

We have not quantified sales by product or product category per se. As I said, on Petcare, the initial feedback has been very positive when that was launched in the first markets. Our Ultra-Axis, which was not on the slide, but one of the key launches doing a kind of a rebasing on the axe wood prep category, had a very positive feedback and demand and restocked many times to key distributors also outside of Finland. So people are doing wood prep work also outside of the Nordics as we have seen. So reception and feedback from the market has been very positive. And some of these like power, it's a completely new category for us. Yes, we've been doing loppers, pruners, but all kind of hand operated and now are getting the help of power and electrical. drives to do that. There we don't have yet a baseline, but after the gardening season of this year, then we are happy also to comment a bit more on the success and the reception here at MINUS10C. I don't think too many people think about garden tools and in some geographies we actually postponed also the media launches just a few weeks to allow some type of spring thoughts coming into people's minds.

Okay, thanks. And maybe to use a couple of technical questions, if you can give any comment of the timing of one of items for 26.

As you mentioned, negotiations have been started just today, and therefore it depends there. So most likely most of that will be in the first half, but we get back more, let's say, precise comment on that one once we are proceeding with the negotiation.

Okay. And finally, on the CapEx split for 26, you mentioned, you know, tight CapEx discipline now in Q4, so what should we expect from 26?

As you saw, we came down 9 million in 2025 versus 2024, out of which 6 million was in Q4. The full year level, what we currently have for 2026, is pretty well in line with what we had full year 2025. Okay, perfect. That's all from me.

There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers.

Thank you for your questions, and we do have questions in the chat as well, so let's continue with those. First, related to Viita's program, Jyri, maybe if you take this one, do you expect any negative sales impact arising from these plans?

Not really. When I look at the plans and the structures, where do we want to tackle our plans, cost position, this is something that doesn't lead to, at least in my view, that it would have direct sales impacts.

Thank you. Then, Jyri, if you continue, when do you expect the production to roughly match your sales volumes in V?

Depends a bit on the category, product category and technology. In some areas, it is likely to be this year. In some areas, it is more likely that it won't be yet this year. And we will be running the whole year with a kind of a curtailed production. We need to make sure that we get to our targeted network and capital structure. That's the prime focus here.

Thanks. And on the same topic, but maybe I will give this one to Jussi, is VITAS 2024 cross-margin, which was about 56.5, according to the one who asked the question. I don't have the number right here. Is that a relevant benchmark going forward once the production rates normalize or is there a permanent negative impact to the GM from some factors?

As we mentioned, the decline what we have at the 240 basis point in 2025 versus 2024 in Vita, that's very much production volume related, not sales price volume related, but becoming production. So, then assuming the logic is correct without commenting any numbers here. So once we get volumes up, of course, then this fixed cost absorption will improve.

Thank you. Then about Fiskars segment, and I will hand this over to Jyri. The first half of 2025 was challenging for the Fiskars segment, especially in the U.S. market. What is your expectation for H1 this year?

Well, as I said, we don't guide quarters. We don't even guide the halves. I don't see, though, any – when we had the turmoil of the tariffs in H1 last year, and after that, things have been more normalizing, and the American consumer has been also happy to shop If we leave the winter storms and those type of one-week disturbances out of the picture, I wouldn't identify any change in the pattern which has started in H2 that New Year's Eve would have changed that pattern in any direction. But as I said, quarterly or half-year guidances are not available, unfortunately.

Yes, thank you. Then we have already discussed the leverage, but maybe still Jyri can discuss what are the focused measures aiming to reduce leverage, given that it has remained above your target for two years already.

Three elements, I would say. When basically taking the cash flow statement, we are also guiding for improved financial profits to make more profits and we need to remember leverage that net debt to EBITDA so it improves automatically even in the absence of net debt not changing when the EBITDA increases so that's key. Then having the net debt element addressed definitely to key drivers we've had some big-ticket CapEx items over the last couple of years, also partly relating to sustainability and kind of decarbonizing some of our production. And now definitely the new launches, for example, at Fiskars. There are some tooling investments, et cetera, coming, but they are directly supporting business and the business growth and keeping the brands relevant. But networking capital is usually addressed. We have still clearly as our target to look at the networking capital turnover ratios that we had pre-COVID. Then came these roller coasters, a boom, and then some doom times out of that. And hence the last few years are not kind of an acceptable benchmark for us. We set our target higher. and continuing that work on the front. So EBITDA up and debt down. That's effectively what the formula also spells out.

Thank you, Jyri. And one for Jussi about the higher silver and gold prices. What is the impact on the Vita or Georgiansen?

Yeah, it is very much Georgiansen bullpen comes to gold and silver there. So both petals we have hedged. We have good hedges in place. They are, you can imagine, they are well into money at the moment because the hedge rates are coming from last year, so therefore not immediately negative impact coming from those ones. Yeah.

Thank you. Let's see. At this moment, we have only one question. Let's see if we get any more. We have a question about the dividend. Maybe we can give a recap on what's the proposal for this year and maybe about our policy. The question is, is the dividend going to stay at 84 cents a year or will it change? Yuri, if you still want to give a recap on that.

The board's proposal concerns the dividend payable out of last year, payable in four installments, 21 cents each, in the second half of the last month of every quarter, if I kind of remember the precise dates correctly. So from two to four installments in aggregate, the annual dividend, 84 cents. We are not taking any stance on dividends beyond that. those that are paid in 26. And the rationale relates to the policy stable growing dividend or cash earnings, which are about one and a half times the proposed dividend, and that's basically the Rationally, in the tree, the board considers always when making those proposals, then the needs of the business, CAPEX needs, and what is the outlook and confidence in the outlook. And I think that indicates also a certain level of confidence in the actions that we are taking and in the projections that we have for 26. Great.

Thank you, Jyrii. And it seems that we don't have any questions at this point, so thank you for your active participation, and I wish you a nice end of the week. And still, before we end the call, I would like to remind you...