Bokusgruppen AB (publ)

Thank you very much, and it is I, Maria, who starts here and begins, and I start with a short summary of the third quarter. The third quarter is characterized by an important school start and an important course start, so it is an important quarter for us. And that is why it was so exciting that we saw a strong sales growth in the quarter at a total of 8.8%. And that also generated a gross profit increase of 7.6%. And almost half of this growth was organic and the rest was a result of our two recently completed acquisitions. The largest growth came from the academic book market, which increased by 11.5%. But it was also positive that Bokus showed growth with 4.1%. An important driving force for this growth is that the number of active customers continues to increase for both the academic book market and Bokus. En bidragande orsak till det här är att vi ordentligt förbättrat våra e-handelsleveranser tillsammans med vår nya logistikleverantör. Den förbättrade logistiklösningen innebär dock även något högre kostnader och Det är lite extra mycket så nu här i början innan vi har fått upp effektiviteten. Så det kombinerat med några övriga kostnadsökningar och mer tillfällig karaktär resulterade i kvartalet i att EBITDA minskade med 6 miljoner kronor jämfört med föregående år. Akkumulerat taktade och EBITDA på en högre nivå än föregående år. And if we instead look at the third quarter in figures, we see what I recently mentioned, revenue increase with 8.8 percent, of which organic growth stood at 4.5 percent. And this gave an increased gross profit of 7.6 percent. And EBITDA in the quarter, which then decreased by 6 million kronor compared to the previous year. Det här kvartalet är dock en väldigt liten del av årets totalresultat. Om vi istället går över och tittar på hittills i år, alltså perioden januari till september, We also see a very good revenue growth with an increase of 5.2%. Also here, mainly driven by the academic book market, which has increased by a whole 7%. The gross margin also has a positive development with an increase of 0.5% units, which generated an increase in gross profit by a whole 6.5%. Och som jag nämnde då, EBITDA ackumulerat för januari till september landar på 0,8 miljoner kronor högre än motsvarande period föregående år. Bland kvartalets viktiga händelser kan vi nämna att vi tagit över det senaste förvärvet, Boko Company, och även efter kvartalets utgång funktionerat in och integrerat in det i verksamheten. Det här innebär att vi hittills under året har adderat åtta nya butiker till våra egna butiker, som nu är 77 till antalet. Under kvartalet så fick våra egna märkesvaror ett nytt tillskott av ett designsamarbete med temat Elsa Beskov och kundmottagandet till det här har varit mycket positivt. Under kvartalet blev Akademibokhandeln nominerade till Market Awards. Vi kan stolt meddela att det här ledde till vinst i början av oktober. Utmärkelsen baserats på utveckling av finansiella nyckeltal, varumärkesstyrka, kundupplevelse och hållbarhetsarbete. Apropå hållbarhet så har vi genomfört flera läs- och skrivfrämjande aktiviteter under kvartalet. Vi har för tredje årets rad delat ut bokstipendiet. Vi har lanserat ett skrivfrämjande initiativ under rubriken Bästa pennan. Vi har publicerat en rapport om barns läsning i hemmet. Vi har delat ut kit med läsborgarmärket till 1500 lågstadieklasser som når ungefär 50 000 elever som just nu håller på att knäcka läskoden. Det här är många olika initiativ vi gör för att hjälpa till att öka läsförmågan bland unga i samhället. If we look at more than a year's overview of the third quarter during the last five years, we see revenue in staples and EBITDA in the line. Revenue has taken a step up during the quarter and is now at the highest level during the last five years of the third quarter. While EBITDA, as you can see, is in the lower part of the span. And after that introduction, I will hand over to our CFO Ola, who will go through the financial part of the report.

Thank you very much, Maria. This picture shows the season variation for our business. We can see how revenues and results vary during the different quarters of the year. Q3, which is framed in the picture, is our next strongest in terms of results and includes the start of schools and courses at the university as important sales events. We see here that the fourth quarter is the strongest of the year with both Black Friday and Christmas trade and accounts for about 35% of the year's turnover. The third quarter of the year, which we are reporting now, stands for about 23% of the turnover and about 15% of the EBITDA result over the last 12 months. If we move on to the next picture and look at the outfall for the quarter, we see that we have a net turnover of 452.8 million kronor, which means an increase of 8.8% compared to 2023. Den här ökningen är fördelad med 4,3 procent från förvärv och 4,5 procent är organisk. Vi har även en bruttomarginal som uppgår till 42,2 procent, vilket är en minskning med 0,4 procentenheter. Det förklaras av flera faktorer som höga logistikkostnader, ett högt kampanjutryck i kvartalet och elstöd som vi erhöll förra året och därmed påverkar jämförelsen. Our EBITDA for the quarter is 17.5 million kronor, which is 6 million kronor lower than the previous year. The lower result mainly depends on higher costs for marketing activities and IT, as well as input costs that are linked to the latest acquisition. The quarter's result goes up to 0.2 million kronor, which is 5.4 million kronor lower than the previous year. If we look further to the right in the picture, we see that in the period from January to September, we have a net turnover of 1.267.4 billion kronor, which means an increase of 5.2% compared to 2023. We also have a gross margin of 41.6%, which is an increase of 0.5%. And this increase during the period consists of continued work to optimize consumer pricing and our purchases. And of course, the period has also been affected by increased costs for logistics and electricity support in Q3, but which have less effect in this period. Our EBITDA for the period ended up at 4.8 million kronor, which is an increase of 0.8 million kronor compared to previous years. Periodens resultat uppgår till minus 34,8 miljoner kronor, vilket är 0,2 miljoner kronor sämre än föregående år. Förra årets resultat påverkas dock av elstöd, som tidigare nämnts, om 1,5 miljon kronor som en jämförelsesstörande post. Justerat för den här jämförelsesstörande posten förbättrades resultatet med cirka 1,2 miljoner kronor. Tittar vi slutligen på ebitda-marginalen för rullande 12 så är den 6%. compared to 4.3% in the previous year. A clear improvement. The focus group has a strong balance sheet and showed a stable and positive cash flow for the quarter. The cash flow for the third quarter was burdened with the moving acquisition that was carried out, up to 25.2 million kronor, which explains that it is lower than in the previous year. If we look at the graph to the left, we see that we have a clear season variation also for the cash flow. The fourth quarter is the strongest, driven not least by Christmas trade. And then when we come to the first quarter, a large part of the purchase is paid to the fourth quarter, which leads to a negative cash flow during the period. In the second quarter, a large part of the payments for goods sold during the book sale occurs, which negatively affects the cash flow in the second quarter. Det justerade operativt kassaflödet för det tredje kvartalet 2024 var positivt och uppgick till plus 6,5 miljoner kronor, vilket ska jämföras med plus 12,4 miljoner kronor motsvarande kvartal 2023. Den minskningen om 5,9 miljoner kronor, vilket vi kan se i mitten på bilden, den minskningen är kopplad till det rörelseförvärv som genomfördes under kvartalet och belastade kassaflödet med 25,2 miljoner kronor. That means that the underlying cash flow has improved, and the main explanation is that the turnover capital has developed positively in the quarter. Over the past 12 months, the adjusted operating cash flow has improved by plus 62.6 million kronor compared to 2023, which we can see in the middle of the picture. The improvement is mainly explained by improved results and improved turnover capital. Det justerade operativa kassaflödet innebär att vi lägger tillbaka de utbetalningar som avser amorteringar av leasing-skulder enligt IFRS 16. Primärt handlar det om våra butikshyror. För kvartalet så uppgår det här till 36,5 miljoner kronor och för rullande 12 till 142,2 miljoner kronor. Hittar vi längst till höger i bilden så ser vi att nettoskuld genom justerad EBITDA uppgår per bokslutsdagen för QT 2024 till 0,8. To compare with 1.0 for 2023. This means that we use 83.4 million kronor on our cheque calculation per September 30. To compare with 90.8 million kronor in 2023. In total, we have a cheque credit range that goes up to 200 million kronor. Finally, we have a solidity that is still high, also compared to industry colleagues, and it goes up to 38% compared to 42% in 2023. Therefore, I will leave it back to you again, Maria.

Thank you very much, Ola. I thought I would tell a little more about the development in our two business segments. We have two business segments in the form of the academy bookshop, which includes both stores and online. And then we have Bokus, which covers Bokus e-commerce and the subscription service Bokus Play. And at the top of the picture, you can see the development compared to the previous year for the quarter and for the upcoming 12. And both segments developed positively in the third quarter. Om vi tar akademibokhanden först så ökade ju akademibokhanden med hela 11,5 procent i kvartalet och det är ju en signifikant ökning från rullande tolvsiffran på 7 procent. 4.7% of the growth in the quarter for the academic bookhand segment is organic, and the rest is driven by the two franchise acquisitions that were carried out during the year. It is very exciting that Bookus also increased with a strong 4.1% in the quarter, at the same level as the rolling 12 growth. This is now the fourth quarter in a row that Bookus shows growth. It is, above all, the sale of general literature to consumers that drives growth. The sale of course literature to students and the sale to companies have still been rejected. In the lower part of the picture, you can see how the turnover and EBITDA are divided into the two segments in quarter three. The Academy Bookhand is the larger segment, both when it comes to turnover and EBITDA, and also has a higher EBITDA margin on a rolling basis. And now a little more details per segment. And then we start with Akademibekänden. And as I have already told you, Akademibekänden had a strong development in this quarter. And this positive growth has been in place year after year since the pandemic. And on the left, you can see revenues in the third quarter during the last five years. And this quarter, the increase is 11.5%. And it comes partly from the acquisitions that we have already mentioned. In addition, online sales have had a very positive development, which you can see in the upper right-hand side. 31% increased online sales compared to previous years, and thus stands for 7.5% of the total academy sales compared to 6.4% in the previous quarter. In the graph to the right we see the number of active customers, that is, customers who have made at least one purchase in the past 12 months. And here we also see an increase in the quarter with 3.9%. In the corresponding depth of focus, Bokus had a strong quarter in several dimensions. To the right, we can start in the picture, where we see that the number of customers increased significantly with an NPS, Net Promoter Score, which increased to 63 from last year's 59. Both of these values are very high, but an impressive increase. This is largely due to the fact that we have improved the delivery time and precision with the help of the change to a new supplier for e-commerce logistics. This has also led to an increase in the number of active customers, which you see in the graph to the right, and increased sales with a total of 4.1%, which you see to the left. Den stora ökningen i antalet aktiva kunder på 9,5% beror delvis på en korrigering av mätmetod som vi har gjort i det här kvartalet. Det visar sig nämligen att vi tidigare inte haft med kunder som har köpt enbart digitala böcker. Så nu har vi med även det, men även utan denna korrigering så ökar antalet aktiva kunder med 5,4% i kvartalet. And on the bottom we see the development of digital books, which had a strong sales growth of 12.8%. And like previous quarters, this is driven by growth for the subscription service Bokus Play. I thought we would take a look at our financial goals. In the beginning of 2024, we set up new financial goals. These are long-term goals that we are working on. When three quarters have passed, we can see that we are developing better than our first goal, which is net revenue growth, which we want to achieve 4% on average over the years. Rullande 12 ligger vi en bra bit över det målet med en tillväxt på 6 %. I mitten ser vi vårt andra mål som är att på sikt öka EBITDA-marginalen till 8 %. Efter tredje kvartalet ligger vi kvar på den tidigare nivån med 6 %. Vi ser att en genomförd IT-transformation som vi arbetar fokuserat med är en förutsättning för att vi ska börja röra oss uppåt mot vårt uppsatta mål. Det tredje målet är ROSE, eller avkastning på sysselsatt kapital, där målsättningen är satt på 35%. Rulandetal taktar vid på 27,5, vilket är en liten nedgång från hela året 2023. Förklaringen till det är att det sysselsatta kapitalet ökat på grund av förlängda och tillkommande hyresavtal för butiker. Jag tänker att jag avrundar med en kort framåtblick. Now we are in the fourth quarter and that is our result-wise absolutely most important period. And the positive signals that we now have with us from the third quarter when it comes to customer satisfaction, number of active customers, improved e-commerce deliveries and sales, they also give us positive signals for our performance during the important end of the year. Vi ser en positiv trend hos oss trots att annan detaljhandel fortfarande möter en avvaktande kund och det ser vi som ett styrkebesked att vi klarar av att prestera väl även i den här miljön. Som vi har nämnt även under tidiga kvartal så har vi fortsatt fokus på utvecklingen av våra nya e-handelssystem och vi ser fram emot att kunna lansera någon gång under våren nästa år. Sen vill jag bara påminna om att det är snart dags för andra delen av årets utdelning. Den 13 november betalas 1,65 kronor per aktie ut och det ger en bra direktavkastning på vår aktie. Som avrundning så tänker jag att jag bara repeterar de viktigaste budskapen från det tredje kvartalet. Det var en stark försäljningstillväxt i kvartalet på hela 8,8% vilket också gav en bruttovinstökning på 7,6%. Approximately half of the growth was organic and the rest was the result of our completed acquisitions. The biggest growth was the academy bookend, but also the bookend showed good growth. The number of active customers increased again for both the academy bookend and the bookend, which we see as a quota for our customer service to be attractive. We saw an occasional reduction in EBITDA in this quarter with 6 million kronor. Which is a lot for this quarter, but only a small part of the year's result, which is mostly delivered in the fourth quarter. And thus we are done with the presentation and open up for any questions.

Thank you very much for the presentation. And just as you mentioned, we go into a question time here. So if you have any questions for Maria and Ola, you can send them in the form to the right. But we start with the first question here. De ökade logistikkostnaderna är väl bara hänförligt till online? Skulle ni kunna utveckla lite grann hur ni tänker kring leveranskostnaderna framöver?

Det stämmer att det handlar om online, precis. Det påverkar Bokus e-handel och även Akademibokhandelns e-handel. inte butik. Och lite som jag nämnde här inledningsvis så är det alltid vid ett byte innan man har trimmat in logistik fullt ut så är kostnaderna något högre. Så vi ser just nu en lite högre logistikkostnad än vad vi önskar och vad vi förväntar oss framåt. Så att det kommer komma ner under nästa år vad vi räknar med. then we will be on a slightly higher level than what we did earlier. And it is a conscious choice to be able to deliver higher quality, quite simply. And I can unfortunately not specify exact figures on these levels that I mention here.

Thank you very much. You seem to be developing better than the book market in terms of sales. Do you know why and how long can it continue?

That's a great question. We think that we have developed so positively because our customers like what we do. For a very long time, we have worked consistently with our customer service, both for Akademifikanden and Bokus, and also Bokus Play. And apparently we manage to deliver what the customers want. And this long-term consequence is very important. Then the customers learn what it is we deliver. And this gives results. And how long it can last, I can unfortunately not say. It depends of course that we will continue to deliver. is still good, but it also depends on what our competitors do and how the consumers have it in their economy and their demand. So I don't really dare to say that.

Thank you very much. The increase in traffic costs in year-on-year is external and staff at 12% in Q3. Can you break it down a little bit? You are located in structures, that is, what is inflation, acquisition, what is marketing, what has contributed a little bit there?

Do you want to try to answer, Ola? I can try to answer that. As you mentioned, rent increases are largely indexed. Wage revisions and therefore wage increases are also a normal part of the cost changes that one has. In addition, we have had a greater emphasis on market activities in the quarter. Primarily, it is linked to the fact that we have moved from the second quarter, so when we look at the entirety of the first nine months, the difference is not that big at all. In that part, we also have continued investments around IT and IT environments that generate some extra costs during this phase of transformation. It means that we have, in some extent, double the environment during this phase, which generates some extra costs. So these are some of the main components that this consists of.

Thank you very much. How do you assess that the increase in MPS and the introduction of the new logistics system can affect sales positively in the coming quarters?

Yes, but that's what we already see. With a more satisfied customer, we also get more active customers, which generates increased sales. And that is a very strong position to be in when you enter the most important quarter of the year, which we are now in the beginning of. In the fourth quarter, so before Black Friday and Christmas, it is extremely good to have that position with customers.

Thank you. How do you experience the price picture on the online market and do you experience that you take market shares online?

Two questions, one here. Let's start with the last one. Yes, we experience that we take market shares online. How do we experience the price picture? For us it is very important to be competitive with price in all our channels. Online is extra transparent in such a way that it is easier to price compare. We keep a very close eye on our competitors to be competitive, but we have no ambition to lower the price. It's still that the book is worth its price and maybe even worth a little more than what it costs today. So we have an ambition to be competitive but not drive prices down.

Thank you. There is a big increase in supplier debt. Should you interpret it as you expect strong sales in Q4 or are there other factors besides acquisitions?

One is that there are payment deadlines that can vary between the comparison periods that you look at. That is one component. The other is, as you say, that just in the phase we are in now, it happens that you simply start purchasing for the important Q4. So it's actually a combination of them. And then the third is where you also mentioned that we have made these acquisitions, have more stores, which increases the volume of purchase and thus also the delivery costs. Thank you.

And you mention the acquisition a little bit here. If we look forward, how do you plan to increase growth? Is it organic or are you looking at more acquisitions and how does it look a little forward?

Vårt främsta fokus är organisk tillväxt. Men vi är öppna för möjligheter som dyker upp på förvärvssidan också. Men det är ingenting som aktivt ingår i vår planering.

Jag förstår. Tack så mycket. Det var alla frågor vi har fått in här. Så jag lämnar över ordet till dig Maria för ditt avslutande ord.

Tack så mycket. Och tack alla som har lyssnat för att ni tog er tid. Och jag kan väl bara påminna om att nästa rapport för det fjärde kvartalet, det släpper vi på andra sidan av året, den 18 februari 2025. Så med det så tackar Ola och jag för oss och säger hej då.