Bokusgruppen AB (publ)

Hej och välkomna till dagens sändning då vi har med oss Bokusgruppens vd Patrik Öbreby och bolagets CFO Ola Målsnäs som kommer att presentera bolagets Q1-rapport 2026. Önskar du ställa frågor till bolaget så kan du använda formuläret till höger så tar vi upp det med eftersändningen. Och med det så lämnar jag över ordet till er, Ola och Patrik.

Tack för det. Hej och välkomna. Jag som pratar heter Patrik Övreby och är nytillträdd vd sedan första april. Och bredvid mig sitter vår CFO Ola Målsnäs som många av er har träffat förut. Hej Ola. Hej hej. Hörrni, innan vi kör igång ordentligt så vill jag bara inleda och kort berätta om mig eftersom det är första gången vi träffas. I have worked here in the bookkeeping group since 2011 in various commercial roles and I have been part of the management since 2018. I feel the company well and am very motivated to get the opportunity to develop this fantastic company with our strong brands further. I am convinced that we together with all employees can continue to strengthen the bookkeeping group step by step and over time create sustainable profitable growth. But now over to the presentation of the quarter, which is the main reason for us to meet. After many quarters, where we have shown increases in revenues following each other, the first quarter shows a slightly more mixed picture. The academic book sales increased further within both stores and especially online. Akademibokhandeln butik managed to beat a very successful previous year, while Akademibokhandeln online got a really good boost from our new e-commerce platform. However, the booksegment had a bit more of a backlash in sales. But if we sum that up for the booksegment group in total, we almost reached the same historically high turnover level as the first quarter of 2025. Vi uppvisar också fortsätta förstärkningar av våra bruttomarginaler, vilket jag tycker är ett styrkebesked. De här stärkta bruttomarginalerna ledde också till att vi kunde visa ytterligare förstärkning av EBITDA till vår högsta nivå någonsin för kvartalet. If we look at the figures, it means a decrease in revenue by 0.8%, which is compensated by an increased gross margin of 1.2%. This results in an EBITDA growth of 1.4%. We got an even greater growth in revenue after the tax, which increased by 55% compared to the same quarter last year. Det finns också några viktiga händelser under kvartalet och framförallt i början av det andra kvartalet som jag tycker är intressant att nämna för er. Under kvartalet så gick den traditionella bokrena stapeln i slutet av februari och i år var den starkare än någonsin för bokhusgruppen, sett både till omsättning och lönsamhet. Jag tar det som ett kvitto på att intresset för böcker är stort och det är glädjen att en så omtyckt och viktig tradition med fysiska böcker i centrum fortfarande är så relevant för så många kunder. In addition to the fact that this is a very important sales period for us, it is also a fantastic opportunity to spread the joy of learning to more customers. During the quarter, our store was also closed on the Odenplan due to the fact that the property owner was going to demolish the house. We are actively looking for a replacement location since it is an area that we see great potential in and hope that we can find a solution in not too long. After the quarter, I would like to mention that we will take over the previous franchise store in Marieberg Galleria outside of Ebro, which we acquired at the end of 2025. This means that when we look into the second quarter, we will have another store in our central store network. In addition, we will open a new store in Skärholmen Center outside of Stockholm in June. This will be an even more positive boost. Framåt så vill vi satsa ännu mer på vårt starka butiksnät eftersom vi ser att vi har en stor lojal kundbas och det driver både omsättning och lönsamhet. Gällande e-handeln så lanserar vi då äntligen den 14 april Bokus nya sajt på vår nya e-handelsplattform. Jag kommer prata lite mer om det senare i presentationen. If we look at the quarter from a historical perspective, it is a very strong quarter. Both the turnover and the result are all-time high for the quarter, and we are very proud of that. When we go into more detail in the financial figures, I will hand over to our CFO, Ola Målsnäs. Thank you, Patrik.

We will start by looking at a picture here of our season variation for our business. Here we can see how revenues and results vary during the different quarters of the year. Q1, which we present today, is our revenue-wise next largest quarter. The start of the course and not least the books again, which we have talked about, are important sales events. Moving on, we see that the second quarter has the lowest annual revenue, which will then increase in the third quarter with, among other things, school start, Och avslutas med det fjärde kvartalet som årets starkaste då med Black Friday och julhandel som stora händelser. Och det fjärde kvartalet står för cirka 35% av årets omsättning. There we are, sorry. Then we can repeat that. As I said, we have a seasonal variation, as we see in this picture, which shows how it varies during the year for our business. Q1 is, as you can see here, the year's next largest quarter, which is dominated by course start and bookstore, not least, which we have just talked about. And we also see that the second quarter is the year's lowest quarter in revenue, and thereafter it increased in the third quarter. The quarter with a school start and is rounded off in the fourth with Black Friday and Christmas trade, which is our most important quarter. If we then look at the outfall for the quarter, as we now report, we see that we have a net income of 502.2 million kronor, which means a decrease of 0.8% compared to 2025. Vi har en bruttomarginal som uppgår till 43,7 procent, en ökning med 1,2 procentenheter. Det förklaras av flera faktorer som optimerad frisättning och en gynnsam kanalmix i kvartalet. Rebeta för kvartalet landar på 13,8 miljoner kronor, vilket är 0,2 miljoner kronor högre än föregående år. Kvartalets resultat efter skatt uppgår till minus 1,7, vilket är 2,1 miljoner kronor högre än föregående år. We can summarize this as a strong quarter with a result of an all-time high. If we then look at the rolling 12, we have a net turnover of 2 billion 150.8 million kronor, which means an increase of 5.9% compared to the previous year. We have a gross margin of 46%, which is an increase of 2.5% The increase will mean that we have strengthened margins in both segments. We have created this by working with consumer prices and incoming businesses. Our EBITDA for the 12-month period fell to 158.7 million kronor, which is an increase of 35.6 million kronor compared to the previous year. Resultatet efter skatt för rullande 12 uppgår till 90,2 miljoner kronor vilket är 48,5 miljoner kronor bättre än föregående år. Den rullande 12-månadersperioden påverkas positivt av en engångspost från återläggning av tilläggsköpsskillning om 18,8 miljoner kronor som påverkade 2025 och då främst Q4 2025. Notera att detta påverkar finansiella poster, det vill säga The result for the 12-month period is 71.4 million kronor, which is 29.7 million kronor higher than the previous year and corresponds to an increase of 71.2%. So it's simply a really strong 12-month period. Then we look at our balance and cash flow here, and the book group's strong balance calculation, and we also showed an improved cash flow compared to the first quarter last year. The cash flow for the first quarter was negative, which is normal for this quarter. We see in the graph to the left of the picture 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. When we come to the first quarter, large parts of the purchases that we make in the fourth quarter are paid, which then leads to a negative cash flow in that period. The adjusted operating cash flow for the first quarter of 2026 rose to minus 11.5 million kronor, which is then compared to minus 113.4 million kronor in the corresponding quarter of 2025. This means an improvement of 1.8 million kronor, which we can see in the middle of the picture. Den ökningen är primärt kopplad till utbetalt skatt, lägre investeringar och något lägre amorteringar av leasing-skulder. För rullande 12 månader så uppgår det justerade operativa kassaflödet till 80,9 miljoner kronor. En ökning med 3,1 miljoner kronor jämfört med 2025 som vi också kan se i mitten på bilden. Det justerade operativa kassaflödet innebär att vi lägger tillbaka de utbetalningar som avser amorteringar av leasing-skulder enligt IFRS 16. Lisen's debt is primarily about our store rents. For the quarter, this goes up to 36.5 million kronor and for the current 12 to 144.1 million kronor. If we look at the far right in the picture, we see that the net debt through adjusted EBITDA Q1 2026 to 0.3, to compare them with 0.6 for Q1 2025. And that means that we use 40 million kronor on our credit per March 31, 2026. And we can also note that our solidity is still high, it probably goes to 45%, and it can be compared with 41.3% previous year for this year. And with that, I'll leave it back to you again, Patrik.

Yes, thank you, Ola. And then I thought we would look at our long-term financial goals. In the beginning of 2024, we set up new ones, and these are the three we see in front of us. The first goal to the left is to reach a net revenue growth of 4% on average over the years. To sum up, we are still well over that goal even though we are on a lower level than the previous year. This is mainly due to the fact that we have a significantly lower proportion of acquired growth and that we have fewer stores. Still higher than before. The second goal is to have an EBITDA of over 8%. When we sum up Q1, the EBITDA margin was 12% left at 7.4%, exactly the same level as for the whole year 2025 and the highest so far. Our goal, after we have launched the e-commerce platform, is to put more effort into operational efficiency so that we can continue to move towards our set goals of profitability. And the third goal to the right is to reach a rose of 35%. And the decline in the last 12 months is 39.8%, which means that we have also exceeded our financial goal here. So if you sum this up, we have reached and exceeded two of three long-term financial goals and are on the right track to reach the EBITDA margin goal as well. If we now go a little deeper into the segment, Akademibokhandeln and Bokus, Q1 shows, as I mentioned, a mixed picture, where Akademibokhandeln increased further, especially in online, while Bokus had it more powerful. The Akademibokhandeln segment consists of our 94 stores, each of 18 franchises and an integrated online solution. and there we increased with 2.8% in the quarter and 5.3% for the last 12 months. The growth in the quarter was completely organic, while the last 12 were affected by the acquisition of franchise stores in 2024. Segment Bokus consists of Bokus e-commerce, which sells to consumers, companies and the public sector. It also consists of Bokus Play, which is our subscription service for audio and e-books. and also by BTJ, which sells books and services to companies and the public sector, especially libraries and schools. Segment Bokus lost a total of 6.9% during the quarter, but if we look at R12, we are still at an increase of 7.1%. A large part of this growth on R12 comes from BTJ being divided through acquisitions in the end of 2024. I cirkeldiagrammen så ser ni fördelning av omsättning och ebitda på de här två segmenten och då ser vi att Akademibokhandeln står för 66% av omsättningen och hela 83% av vår ebitda. If we go a little deeper into the academic book trade, we can see that the academic book trade has gone from clarity to clarity after the tough pandemic years. And even this first quarter provided continued growth in revenue and number of active customers, even though we had one store less. As I have already mentioned, revenue increased by 2.8% compared to previous years. The store increased by 2.2% organically. Med en butik färre online ökade hela 7,3%. Online-tillväxten förklarar vi främst genom högre snittkvitton, bättre försäljning av det övriga sortimentet som inte är böcker, samt ökade fraktintäkter. Allt det här är till stor del tack vare att Akademibokhandeln ligger på vår nya e-handelsplattform sedan i höstas. Alltså den plattform som vi nu också lanserat Bokus på. Antalet aktiva kunder inom Akademibokhandeln, det vill säga de kunderna som handlat minst en gång de senaste 12 månaderna, har ökat med 1,9%. Så att kunderna uppskattar det vi erbjuder, det är tydligt tycker jag i de här nyckeltalen, men också i det nyckeltalet längst nere till höger, nämligen NPS, det vill säga kundernas rekommendationsvilja. which has taken another step up to 71 for this quarter, from last year to that high level of 68. This makes us incredibly proud, of course, with these fine moves. If we go over to Bokus, then it had, as I mentioned earlier, a little tougher and lost both revenue and active customers, where we have lost most of the customer group students. En annan orsak till omsättningsutmaningen är att vi, precis som jag tror väldigt många andra e-handlare, ser tapp i organisk trafik till vår sajt. Det här tappet har i sig flera orsaker, men jag är glad att vi nu har e-handelsplattformen på plats äntligen. Så då har vi bättre möjlighet att fokusera på att kunna jobba med vår organiska trafik och förhoppningsvis kunna vända den här trenden. But very important, I think, is to highlight that Bokus customers are increasingly satisfied with us. And we reached a new record level, even for Bokus, on our Net Promoter Score of 68 compared to 66 in the first quarter of 2025. Which we believe depends a lot on stable delivery and a very reliable logistics apparatus. It is also worth pointing out that we in the segment see a growth in gross margin driven primarily by continued price optimization. However, this increase in gross margin could not compensate for the full loss of revenue and therefore gave a loss in gross profit, which together with a temporary higher cost picture gave a reduced EBITDA. But our goal here, and what I want to be clear with, after we have launched the e-commerce platform, is to put more power on increased traffic to the site, as well as operational efficiency in our processes, so that we can continue to move towards a significantly stronger EBITDA within Bokus. If we move forward, we are all closely aware of the geopolitical tensions and the economic uncertainty in the world. So far, we have not seen any effect from this. We are monitoring the issue and we are both ready and used to adapting to new conditions. We are very happy that we launched Bokus on our new e-commerce platform on April 14th, where we have now migrated both Akademibokhandeln and Bokus. Fokus framåt i det här arbetet att successivt stärka kundupplevelsen och samtidigt kunna skapa både en effektivare onlinehandel, effektivisera vårt interna arbete och därmed reducera kostnader. Och så vill jag också lyfta att med Marie Berg i Örebro i vårt butiksnät nu så har vi under andra kvartalet ytterligare en butik. Och dessutom kommer vi i juni öppna en ny butik i Skärholmen centrum, som jag nämnde, vilket blir ännu ett positivt tillskott. Framåt vill jag driva att vi ska satsa ännu mer på vårt starka butiksnät som har en lojal, stor kundbas och som driver både omsättning och lönsamhet för koncernen som helhet. Blickar vi inte så långt framåt utan mot ett beslut förhoppningsvis på årsstämman så har styrelsen föreslagit en We see in the graphs that since 2023 we have steadily increased the share by about 10% per year. The board's proposal means that we increase the share this time as well to 4 kronor per share. It is supposed to be divided by two occasions in equal parts, that is to say 2 kronor per share and occasion. Vårt mål är att lämna en långsiktigt stabil, successivt stigande utdelning. Samtidigt är det viktigt att vi har en effektiv kapitalstruktur och kapacitet till att genomföra investeringar så att vi också kan göra lönsam expansion. Vårt mål är därför att när kassaflödet överstiger de långsiktiga investeringsbehoven så ska överskottet delas ut till ägarna, vilket vi alltså fortsätter med den här gången. To summarize what I think is most important for this presentation, Akademi Bokhandeln had a positive development in the store and an even stronger development online. We had a strong gross margin within Bokus, which to a certain extent compensated for reduced revenue. In total, we had a quarter with stable revenue, strong gross margins and improved EBITDA, which landed on an all-time high for the quarter. And with that, our presentation is finished and we open up for questions.

Thank you very much for this presentation. If you want to ask questions, you can use the form to the right, then we will take up the questions. Some questions have come in here and I will ask them so you can choose who to answer. We're going to talk a little about volume growth. How much of the improvement in the first quarter is due to a permanent change in the assortment? Such as increased trade of non-books. How much is the result of price increases that you now see starting to reach the consumer?

It was a multi-part question as I perceived it. I will try my best to answer. Bokrean påverkade kvartalet i oerhört positiv riktning. Det var drivet av produkterna böcker helt enkelt. Det har haft en positiv påverkan framför allt inom Akademibokhandeln men även inom Bokus. Det övriga sortimentet växer men framför allt på akademibokhandeln.se där den nya plattformen har möjliggjort att vi har ökad möjlighet att visa det på ett betydligt bättre sätt än våra gamla plattformar har gjort. Det ser vi också som en positiv tillväxtmöjlighet för Bokus när vi går framåt. Det sortimentet som ligger utanför böcker. But that might have been my answer to that question, or do you want to add something to that?

No, we're happy with that. We have received a question from Örjan on Carnegie. He writes, what effects do you see in the short term from the launch of the e-commerce platform Ibocus?

We have previously had a platform for Bokus that we have internally worked on and developed for 25 years. It is clear that we have made it to a certain refinement. It has, however, reached end of life, so to speak, and we have experienced challenges with further development, which is why we have invested in a completely new single platform. But with that said, you always go live with something that may not catch exactly everything we have fine-tuned for 25 years. So I see ahead of me that we will be here in the coming quarter screwing and trying to optimize experience and efficiency in the site. So in the short term, we may not see such big effects, but In the fall, I think we should see a lot of positive effects from the platform.

Thank you. What is your best assessment of the reopening of the Bordenplan store?

I think we have to be careful with that question. We are in a negotiation with our previous rental world, so I don't think we have any prognosis to give on that.

That is also a response. Thank you very much. In Q4 you mentioned that you consciously held back the marketing to ensure stability at the start of the new e-commerce system. Can you quantify what efficiency gains you see that the system already gives during the first three months?

I don't think we can quantify that. Do you have anything to add, Olle?

No, we can't quantify it that way. I wouldn't say that. There are many factors that contribute to an improved efficiency with the opportunities that the new system platform gives.

Thank you. You mentioned the capacity of the department. You are increasing the department with a proposal of 4 kronor. You are increasing it by about 10%. Someone is writing here that with the strong cash flow and the good cash flow, you are above your goals. Can you choose to be even more aggressive in the future?

Yes, we will see how it develops in the future. But as Patrik mentioned in the presentation, our goal is to have a continuously increasing share. It is part of the goal at the same time that we will have a good capital structure and financial muscles to be able to make profitable investments. So we hope that we will continue to be able to increase our shares in the future, absolutely. And that is very pleasing when we see that we have such a stable financial position. Then we have good conditions to be able to do that. And then we have to remember that we have invested intensively now for a number of years. So we think it is a great strength that we can continue to have a good sharing level.

I understand. Thank you. A question about the digital strategy. It's a bit of a crowded trade, this with subscription services. What strategic role does Bokus Play play for the group today?

Bokus Play plays a very important role within the group. If you look at the customer behavior here, we see that Consumers not only listen to audio books or only read physical books, but what we can see is that those who are members of Akademibokhandels vänner and at the same time have a Bokus Play subscription is twice as often in our stores and are for a much larger value per year. So there is this multi-consumer, so for us it is very important that we can be present in all channels and even if we do not have the most aggressive growth within this segment or the most offensive strategy there, it is over time very important for us to be able to be close to our customers.

Thank you very much. One last question to Patrik, as the new CEO. You are doing your first report presentation. Do you see any strategic course changes compared to the previous management? Or how is the focus initially on making things and things more sustainable?

I think, as I have mentioned before, that this is a very well-managed company. We will work from that position and continue with a continuity in that. But you can always sharpen clarity in certain directions. Now, when we have changed our approach and come out on a new business platform, we really have to work to get the effects out of the investments, which we have already touched on a little earlier in the presentation. I think that is important. The second is to also start working to an increasing degree with our operational efficiency, both how we look at our processes, but also what we can now close down when we have launched on a new platform. Om något så vill jag trycka på vikten av vårt butiksnät. Vi har ju sett hur stor vikt det spelar för oss, hur bra det går därinom och vår tro på butiken framöver är stark. Jag nämnde det. Jag tycker att vi ska... and carefully look at how we can invest more in stores as well. So no major course changes, but manage the nice companies that the bookkeeping group is. But with these small twists, I think we can take further steps for sustainable increased profitability.

Then I thank you very much for this presentation. A few final words from you before we part ways.

Yes, but I want to thank you for taking the time to listen. And next time we hopefully see each other is July 15th when we present the report for the second quarter, 2026. But before that, there is a possibility for all shareholders to come to our annual vote. It is on the 7th of May and is held in our newly renovated flagship store on Mästersamhällsgatan in Stockholm. And the last announcement day there is right around the corner, April 30th. Så jag önskar er varmt välkomna dit och tack för att ni lyssnade.