Bokusgruppen AB (publ)

Thank you very much and a warm welcome.

My name is Maria Edsman and I will start here and then Ola will take some parts of the presentation. So we start with the second quarter. Det andra kvartalet blev ovanligt starkt för vårt andra kvartal. Vi bjuder på stark omsättningstillväxt, betydligt förbättrade bruttomarginaler och en stor förbättring av resultatet. Den underliggande organiska tillväxten överträffar våra finansiella mål och utöver det så har vi en positiv effekt från att vi förra året adderade sju butiker samt BTI genom förvärv. One of the explanations comes from young people's increasing reading. They read paper books that they buy in the store. We see a greater influx of new customers in the younger target groups. This is very positive, of course, not only for us, but for society in general. Vi arbetar på med vår utveckling av nya e-handelssystem och det arbetet fortsätter in i det andra halvåret. När de här nya systemen är sjösatta så kommer vi se bättre kundupplevelse, förbättrade möjligheter till mer försäljning och en kostnadseffektivare it-miljö. If we instead look at the second quarter in figures, we see significant improvements in all key figures. The revenue growth was a total of 16.4% and out of that was 5.5% organic growth. We have increased our gross marginals by 4%, which together with the revenue growth gave a gross profit growth of 27.2%. And together with costs in control, this also gave a positive effect on EBITDA, which was improved by 14.6 million kronor. And if we then sum up the first half of the year, the first two quarters, we also see a very positive development on all levels. We then have a revenue growth of 12.2 percent, a change in gross margin of 3.2 percent, which has given a gross profit growth of 20.9 percent. And even here an EBITDA improvement of 17.4 million kronor. And that means that EBITDA for the first half of the year goes up to 4.8 million kronor compared to previous years when the results for the first half of the year have still been negative. If we instead take a little longer time series and look at the second quarter during the last five years when it comes to revenue and EBITDA, then you can clearly see how good the second quarter of the year is from a long-term perspective. Revenue has taken a big step up during the quarter and is now at the highest level during the last five years of the second quarter. And EBITDA ends this year at an all-time high with a good margin for the second quarter if one then cleanses for a larger positive one-off position as we had in 2022. So after that introduction, I will hand over to our CFO Ola who will go through a little more in depth the financial part of the report.

Thank you Maria. The picture we are looking at now shows our seasonal variation in our business. We can see how revenues and results vary during the different quarters of the year. Q2, which is framed, is our smallest quarter in terms of revenue and does not contain any major specific sales event. If we then look further to the third quarter, it is stronger sales and results with the school start as an important sales event. The second quarter of the year, which we have reported now, stands for approximately 19% of the year's turnover. If we look at the outfall of the previous quarter, we see that we have a net turnover We have an increase of 16.4% compared to 2024. The increase is then divided by 10.9% from acquisitions and 5.5% from organic growth. We have a gross margin of 46.8%. and not least incoming businesses. Our EBITDA for the quarter fell to minus 8.8 million, which is 14.6 million kronor higher than the previous year. It is a strong quarter with EBITDA adjusted at an all-time level for the second quarter, just as Maria said earlier. The result of the quarter goes up to minus 22.3 million kronor, which is 9.2 million kronor higher than the previous year. So when we summarize this, we see a very strong and stable quarter. If we move on to the period from January to June, we have a net income that goes up to 914 million kronor, which means an increase of 12.2% compared to 2024. We have a gross margin of 44.4%, which is an increase of 3.2%. This increase is based on strengthened margins in both segments, by optimising our consumer pricing and from incoming businesses. Our EBITDA for the period ended up at Periodens resultat uppgår till minus 26,1 miljoner kronor vilket är 9 miljoner kronor bättre än föregående år. Så vi är ju glada över att arbetet med att förbättra bruttomarginalen parat med god kostnadskontroll resulterat i den här resultatförbättringen. Finally, on this picture, we look at the EBITDA margin for rolling 12, which is 6.6%. And to compare it with 6.0% for rolling 12 for the whole year 2024. The focus group has a strong balance calculation. It showed a decreased cash flow compared to the previous year. The cash flow for the second quarter was negative, which is normal for the quarter. We see in the graph to the left that we have a clear seasonal variation also for the cash flow, where the fourth quarter is the strongest, driven not least by the Christmas trade. And when we come to the first quarter, a large part of the purchases are paid for the fourth quarter, which leads to a negative cash flow in the period. In the second quarter, a large part of the payments for goods sold during the book sale occurs. but also delivery of first-aid services from acquired businesses, which negatively affects the cash flow in the second quarter. The adjusted operating cash flow for the second quarter of 2025 rose to minus 81 million kronor, which is to be compared with minus 53.9 million kronor in the corresponding quarter of 2024. This means a decrease of 27.1 million kronor, which we can see in the middle of the picture. The decrease is primarily linked to increased traffic capital and, to a certain extent, increased investments. The traffic capital is partly increased due to new stores, price increases, delivery and supply of paid services from acquired businesses, as well as investments linked to the e-commerce system. Over the next 12 months, the adjusted operating cash flow will increase to plus 50.7 million kronor. i mitten på bilden. Minskningen förklaras främst av investeringar som har ökat med 23,9 miljoner för rullande 12 månader i föregående år. Det justerade operativa kassaflödet innebär att vi lägger tillbaka de utbetalningar som avser amorteringar av leasing-skulder enligt IFRS 16 och rörelseförvärv. Leasing-skulderna handlar primärt om våra butikshyror. För kvartalet så uppgår det till 35 If we look to the far right in the picture, we can see that net debt through adjusted EBITDA increases per year for Q2 2025 to 1.3 and to compare with 0.8 for 2024. This means that we use 172.9 million kronor of our credit facility per 30 June 2025. In December 2024, we signed a new long-term financing agreement with Nordea on a revolving credit facility, the so-called RCF, which goes up to 250 million kronor and can be expanded with another 50 million kronor. It replaces the previous Czech credit, which went up to 200 million kronor. The solidity is still high and goes up to 35.8% compared to 41.4% in 2024. I början av 2024 så satte vi åt nya finansiella mål. När vi summerar R12-perioden så kan vi konstatera att vi utvecklas bättre än vårt första mål omsättningstillväxt. Målet är att nå 4% i snitt över åren och utfall för rullande 12-perioden uppgår till 10,1% vilket ligger en bra bit över målet. Tillväxten har påverkats positivt av två butiksförvärv och BTI parat med organisk tillväxt. Det andra målet var att på sikt öka ebitda-marginalen till 8%. När vi summerar ökar vi jämfört med föregående kvartal till 6,6% och vi ser att genomförd IT-transformation ger oss rätt förutsättningar för att vi ska kunna röra oss mot vårt uppsatta mål. Det tredje målet är att nå en rose på 35%. Utfallet för rullande tolvperioden har förbättrats jämfört med föregående kvartal och uppgår till 32,5%. Then I'll hand it over to you again, Maria.

Thank you very much, Ola. I thought I would tell you a little more about the development in our two segments. We have two business segments in the form of academic book sales, which comprises both stores and online, as well as books that comprise e-commerce, the subscription service Bokus Play, as well as the recently acquired BTJ. Both segments developed very positively in the second quarter and on a rolling 12 basis. At the top of the picture you can see the revenue development compared to the previous year for the quarter and the rolling 12. The academic bookings increased by a whole 14.2% in the quarter, is an additional improvement from the rolling 12 figure of 11.5%. The growth is both organic with 8.3% and comes from acquired franchise stores. Online also contributed to a high turnover growth before the academy bookend. It grew by 10.1%. Bokus also increased strongly in the quarter with 20.7% and here the growth comes primarily from the added acquisition of BTI. But also e-commerce consumer sales, including students and digital books with Bokus Play at the top, has had a good increase in the quarter. On the rolling 12 basis, Bokus grew with 7.6%. In the lower part of the picture, you can see how Omsättning and EBITA are divided into the two segments on the Rölander 12-basis. And you can see that Akademibokhandeln is the larger segment both when it comes to Omsättning and EBITA. Bokus Omsättning och EBITA har ökat mer än tillkommande verksamheten i BTI. Bokus EBITDA marginals saw a major deterioration last year, explained by higher logistics costs and project costs related to the development of new e-commerce systems. It is now happy that we see a positive development of both marginals in general, but also that logistics costs are now starting to drop. If we dive deeper per segment and start with the academic bookend, this picture focuses on the second quarter. The academic bookend continues the positive trend that has remained since the pandemic. The graph on the left shows continuous growth in sales and on the right the graph also shows continuous growth in the number of active customers. What is not visible in the picture is the key word NPS, which we usually follow. It is the customer's recommendation will. Very high NPS for the academic bookend and it has further strengthened to 68 compared to the previous year's second quarter when it was at 66. And our customers really show clearly that they appreciate what we do both in our stores and online. The growth in stores was 14.5% and online 10.1%. And that means that the share of online from the whole academy dropped somewhat, as you can see down to the right. It fell to 7.1% online share compared to 7.3% last year. 76 of our 77 stores, that is, all but one, generate positive sales. Last year, one store was recently opened and seven stores arrived through acquisition. If we then move on to Bokus, our second segment, also with a focus on the second quarter. In the graph on the left, we can see the turnover during the last five years in the second quarter. This year's turnover increased significantly, which is mainly explained by the new BTI. Up in the right corner, we see that digital books continue to increase strongly with 8%. And this was mainly digital books, partly consists of purchase of digital books, which in this quarter did not have a positive trend, but on the other hand, Bookesplay, our subscription service, had an increase that was higher than this, which compensated for it. We have also seen a positive development of over 5% in consumer sales on e-commerce and also course book sales, which is also very pleasing, because it has had a negative trend for a long time, but now we have seen a positive development here for a few quarters. In the graph to the right you can see the development of the number of active customers and if we clean up for a change in the measurement method that we did here a year ago, we are still at about the same level in the number of active customers as last year. And on the bottom right you can see the development of the NPS for Bokus. And even here we have very nice figures and also increasing figures. Here the NPS has increased to 66 from last year's second quarter when it was 63. And Bokus has had a very positive trend here and the explanation is primary. that we through the change to a new e-commerce logistics supplier have improved our e-commerce delivery when it comes to lead times and precision and this really appreciates our customers. We also have great confidence that we will be able to offer an even better customer experience and opportunities for more sales when we have launched our new modern e-commerce system. But it is still a joy to see that we have managed to create sales increases despite the limitations that we have in our current system environment. And finally, I look forward And it is clear that more and more happy customers as well as access to acquired businesses gives us a strong momentum now for the rest of 2025. It is also worth mentioning that all parts of our business perform well. It is often the case that it is a bit of a jumble, but in the first half of the year and especially in the second quarter, all parts go In the rest of the year, we will launch our new e-commerce system step by step, which will give us improved opportunities to drive sales and also opportunities to increase our cost efficiency. Vi håller ögonen på vår omvärld som ju fortsatt är mycket osäker. Vi har beredskap att möta eventuell negativ påverkan på vår affär. Men så här långt så ser vi snarare ökad kundefterfrågan och vi hoppas att det håller i sig. En bok eller ett spel kan ju vara skönt att fly in i när verkligheten kanske inte känns så uppbyggande. And finally, a short repetition of what we have presented to you today. The second quarter was still a very strong quarter. The turnover increased, the gross margin strengthened, which led to a significantly improved result in RITA. And the three companies that we acquired last year, they contribute positively to both turnover and profitability, but also a very strong underlying development. Därmed är vi klara med presentationen och öppnar upp för frågor.

Stort tack Maria och Ola för den presentationen. How big is the proportion of growth?

The proportion has increased by more than 5%. However, we have a negative development in sales to public companies, where we have a contract that we refused to renew. So on the sales side, there is a negative deviation there. But on the other hand, something that affects our profitability in e-commerce especially a lot. But in terms of sales, the company side draws down the good development of the consumer. So if you look at the total for the segment, it is above all the B10 in the acquisition that adds to the high turnover growth.

And are the improved

We will not take this type of step forward every quarter. It is extra high here and partly it also has an impact with the addition of acquired businesses. But we have, during a long period, gradually strengthened our gross margin. And that has different major effects in different quarters. There is probably a limit for when it is not possible to reduce them even more, but so far we have managed to at least not go the other way and we hope to be able to continue to do that. We have quite high campaign activity as it is already now, so there we try to campaign in an intelligent way so that it drives profitable growth and that we do not give away too much in our margins.

How do you see the strong development in the academic book market?

Yes, as I said, we don't have good data. There is good book sales statistics, but it lags a bit if it's not as fast to report as we are. So we haven't really seen the market data for the second quarter. For a longer time, however, we have developed better than the market. If we look at the previous quarter, we have a positive momentum even compared to our competitors. Om det har hållit i sig det här kvartalet kan jag tyvärr inte sia om äntligen.

Tack Marie för det svaret. Om vi kikar lite på Bokus då. Ni beskriver att många delar omsättningsmässigt utvecklas väl då. Samtidigt som tillväxten drivs främst av förvärv av BTG. Vad var det som utvecklades svagt?

Ja, jag nämnde det lite grann. Men det är ju framförallt the business side, or above all the sales that we have on the focus towards the public sector. where we have a negative development, but we also have thoughts on that. That was one of the reasons why we also acquired BTI, which focuses on these customer groups, that we together here will be able to have a stronger advantage over schools, libraries and more, and be able to turn that trend forward.

And you have a strong operational cash flow. Men rörelsekapitalet var kraftigt negativt. Vad skulle ni se att orsaken var till det?

Ja, flera orsaker som gör det. Dels så är det rena kalendereffekter i perioden då som påverkar oss specifikt i andra kvartalet. Det blir lite hur månadsbryt och betaldagar träffar. Den andra delen är ju att negative in the second quarter and the first half of the cash flow. And as we grow and grow, even in the retail sector, we get a greater negative effect. Plus that we have invested more than in previous years and also then we have a part of the revenue from the business model that is paid in advance and then delivered during the year. Which is actually positive, but just in this period you get a negative cash flow effect. So as I said, there are a number of different causes that cause this.

Thank you, Ola, for that answer. And a follow-up question to your answer there. You see this as a random effect, right? Yes, that's correct. Thank you. Do you feel that the acquisition has developed according to a plan, especially all BTJ, which then differs from your traditional stores and online businesses to consumers?

Yes, but it has developed according to a plan.

Thank you for that. And then we take a final question here. How do you generally feel about the competition in online?

Yes, but we mainly have one big competitor in online and that is Adlibris. I would say that the competition looks like it has done for a longer period. It is mainly we who compete with each other. Then there is also Amazon on the market and that was something that we had a lot of respect for before they came to Sweden. We do not experience them at all as such a big competitor as Adlibris is. Then there are smaller actors that we do not notice much of, but it is above all the big competitor of Libris that we fight with.

Then I have to thank you, Maria and Ola, for taking the time to present your report for the second quarter and answer the questions. And I will leave the floor to you for some final words.

Thank you very much. Ja, och vi vill tacka för att ni tog er tid att lyssna in på presentationen så här mitt i sommaren. Och vi vill önska er en härlig boksommar. Vi ses igen till hösten när det är dags för Q3-rapport den 23 oktober. Så tack för oss och hej då!