Clas Ohlson AB (publ)

So good morning everyone and welcome to the Klaus Olsson Q2 Report presentation with me, Christoffer Tonström, CEO and CFO, Panilla Valfridsson. So we'll, as always, go through a short business update that I'll take us through and then we'll go into the financial development, the events after the reporting period and the summary Q&A. So starting by headlining a bit the second quarter and also the start of Q3. We can conclude that Q2 sales came in at 2.8 billion, which is an organic growth of 8%. Also operating profit was up approximately 11% versus last year to 307, which is also then translate to a margin of 11%. We can also conclude that online sales now represents almost a fifth of the Klaus Olsson sales now in the second quarter. So it's obviously clear that driving profitable growth online as well is driving the results. Cash flow wise also came in slightly above last year and we ended the quarter with a net cash position of 211 million. Also, the start to Q3 was solid with a 13% organic growth in November and we'll get back to a bit more details there. So business update and starting a bit from our strategy and then moving on to towards the activities we worked on during the quarter. So overall, there are three big things that really sets us apart that we view as our competitive advantages and that's our assortment, our brand and the customer leading and the combination of the three. So we do focus our attention and resources on really differentiating to ensure we have the resources behind those three areas to really set us apart. The ambition is to develop a scalable and efficient operating model that is cost effective and we see that the changes we've done over the last few years is helping with leverage in terms of when top line grows. We also want to generate a strong free cash flow that we can then reinvest into further strengthening our position across assortment, brand and customer leading. Since we updated our strategy a few years ago, we also have concluded that we are very much a multi-niche player versus being a generalist. So we are focusing our attention across five niches that we call our consumer missions and you can see them at the bottom here at the slide. Also, you see the brand's Technik delaren batteri experten, which is part of the sparse group that we acquired now one year ago, which is part of the whole connect and enjoy your home. So looking at our targets, our ambition is to grow organically five percent a year and deliver a operating margin of 79 percent. And we also want to be industry leading when it comes to sustainability with ambitious goals over the next few years. Looking then a bit what we have done across the second quarter, linking back to executing on this plan and strategy. First off, when it comes to our assortment, the ambition from us is to build a strong all weather portfolio that is very much relevant all year round. And I do think we have a few good examples looking at the second quarter. First overall, all the five niches are growing. We have had a continued high pace in terms of reinventing our assortment. We have launched a lot of new products, which drives a lot of traffic and that also then drives big sales on the base business. We also see that the second quarter from a pure seasonal perspective has been fairly weak when it comes to seasonal products. It's been a warm quarter where sales sold less heaters, etc. But thanks to the assortment strategy, we're compensating by being strong across other areas that are extremely relevant to our customers. The second part is growing online in a profitable way. And I think we can conclude that we're doing that. I said initially almost a fifth of the sales now goes online. And to us, our omni structure is very much a competitive advantage. We do see that the combination of our store network with our relevance online goes hand in hand and delivers and enables a very high customer satisfaction, no matter where you choose to interact with Klaus Olsson. We also see that the big part of the online volume in one way or the other flows via the store network, which again shows how important it is to us to have a solid omni structure. Looking at the Spurs Group that now as of November, it's gone one full year since the acquisition became of the Spurs Group and became part of the Klaus Olsson Group. And here we reported sales of 211 million. So that's included in our online sales now. The third big focus area to drive growth is to work with our store network. And here we have added four new stores across the second quarter. And we're on track towards delivering 10 net new stores for the fiscal year. We also work a lot with the store network that we have. We have seen strong like for like growth over the last six months across the store network. So it's also important to continue to improve the store network that we have. So there are several moves and rebuilds underway and also executed. When it comes to enablers, communication and being close and relevant to customers is obviously extremely important. And we do see now that more and more customers associate Klaus Olsson with our prioritized niches or missions than before. So it shows that we are even more clear in our offering. Second, cost base. We do have a more efficient organization and we are doing everything to to ensure we keep a solid overhead cost structure so that we get leverage from the sales growth and the growth drivers above. On our sustainability agenda, a lot of things obviously happening on a going basis. To name one across the quarter was that we were named one of the most equal companies by the Albright Foundation in Sweden. Then looking at the most important part, our customer relevance and satisfaction. Then this links very much back into our assortment brand and customer meetings. So starting with products, we are a product company having the right assortment and high satisfaction behind the products we're selling is crucial. We continuously get high number of reviews of the assortment and the products we're selling. And we are also consistently delivering very high high scores when it comes to the product reviews. The second area is from a brand point of view to be always very affordable. And here we benchmark ourselves to the low price and discount competitors. And we do see that we are affordable and we are delivering value to our customers. And then the last point on the customer experience and satisfaction, we constantly measure NPS every day across our interactions. And as reported before, we are constantly slightly above 60, which is a high level versus the retail average benchmark. Moving on then, not going through too many details, but as said, looking at our five missions, the five niches, this is really what drives traffic to Klas Olsson. We have seen strong traffic growth across the quarter and the month. And these five areas drive relevance and it really enables customers to come to us when they have a specific need in one of those areas. And they can then find a product they need. And they usually leave the store with a few more products that they found when visiting us and usually products they really also need. A couple of examples. We are constantly launching new products and always trying to look for new, simple, smart solutions for our customers to solve the needs. Here on the slide, we see some examples of organizing your shoes. I guess everybody can relate to how much space shoes take. So having these type of simple, practical solutions to help customers in the day to day makes a difference, but also to repair products and then also to clean the home. So just a couple of examples of things that we've been launching. Also, cleaning and tidying up your home is a key part, but it relates to cleaning also your shoes, as an example here with a fantastic product, cleaning white shoes. But also very practical solutions for home fixers that maybe do not have the skills to work with power tools, etc. So magnetic hooks, hooks that you can push through the wall without using drilling, etc. So these are just a few examples of the typical Claes Olsson products. Quirky, smart solutions to everyday problems that you want fixed. So with that, I'll hand over to Panila to take us through the financial developments.

Thank you, Christoffer. And good morning, everyone. I'm very pleased to once again have the privilege to guide you through the financials of a really strong quarter. As previously communicated, total sales was up 14%, of which 8% is organic growth, minus 3% relates to currency effects, and the quite sparse group stands for 9%. Looking at the organic growth in detail, 4% comes from like for like and 4% comes from new stores. Online sales grew in the quarter was 6% of stores and spares, excluding currency effects, online growth was 9%. Including spares, online sales was 527 million SEK for the quarter, which adds to an online share of total sales of 18% ruling 12 months. Looking at the sales per market, consumer confidence remains relatively weak. But despite this, we see positive development in all markets. I think it is impressive that we have such good momentum in sales despite the macro climate. There are, however, as always, some external factors that impact us. Firstly, it is positive that freight prices have declined during the autumn. The previously higher prices for transport will keep affecting us the coming quarters. As we have different types of transport agreements and a lag effect due to the turnover rate of stock in trade, but we will see positive impact on these recent decline later on. When it comes to currencies, the weak knock impacts us immediately due to a larger share of sales in Norway. The US dollar has been challenging for quite some time, with a further increase in relation to the SEC during November, up to as high as 11 SEC for one US dollar in mid-November. -in-all gross margin declined by .5% to 39.8%. Looking at what has impacted the margin, there are of course a lot of components affecting the gross margin. The main positive effects come from reduced cost for sourcing and transportation compared to Q2 last year. Currency effects, including hedging, impact us negatively also this quarter, and the structurally lower gross margin for spares group also impacts gross margin negatively, with slightly more than 1%. If we disregard the spare effects, things we have actively worked with ourselves are strengthening the underlying profitability. Operating profit amounts to 307 million SEC compared to 245 million SEC last year. We have no one-off effect during the quarter, and the comparables include last year's write-down of IT systems and costs relating to reorganization. Looking at the first half of the fiscal year, operating profit has increased to 510 million SEC. BPS for the quarter was 3.6 SEC, an increase from 2.7 in last year's Q2. Looking at the inventory, we see the effect of the usual build-up for the third quarter sales period, which of course include Christmas sales, as well as longer lead times with the current longer seed trade groups. The inventory sounds and supports future sales with good balance between different products and categories. Please also remember that the inventory now supports more stores and includes spares group inventory as well. Cash flow for the first half of the year was strong, cash flow from operating activities totalled 30 million SEC, an improvement from 520 million SEC last year. Free cash flow for the first six months amounted to 176 million SEC compared with 211 million SEC last year. The cash flow strengthened by the increased results, but the earlier build-up of inventory and higher investment were key factors behind the slightly drop from last year. As previously stated, we defined free cash flow as cash flow after investing activities, including amortization of lease liabilities. Net F EVDA excluding IFRS 16 was minus 0.2. We maintained a net cash position and were in line with our financial targets. With that, I hand back the presentation to you, Christoffer.

Thank you, Pernilla. So looking at events after the reporting period, we also today reported our November sales numbers. So the first quarter of Q3, or the first month of Q3. All in all, we saw strong sales development across November, growing total sales 165 million and with 13% organic growth. Here we do not see the same currency effects. We're now meeting a slightly lower base on the Norwegian krona, so no currency effects from a sales point of view. Also broad-based growth in November. Sweden, Norway, strong double-digit organic growth. Finland 4% and Sparrow's Crew 4%. So all in all, a good start to the Christmas season and across the board, good execution from the from the Klaus Olsson team, welcoming a lot of customers during this very busy season for us. Also, the store network has increased 14 stores compared to end of November last year. So wrapping up before we move into Q&A. We're going to continue to execute on the long-term plan and in line with our simple strategy. It's all about ensuring relevance for our customers, ensuring that every customer that visits Klaus Olsson leaves happy and well taken care of to ensure that they come back more and more. We are continuously working with the store network. We haven't announced any number of new stores for next fiscal year, but for this year we are on track versus the net 10. And we are satisfied with the stores that we've opened and we do see strong like for like developments on the ones that we have. So we're going to continue with that. Also going to continue building a profitable online business. Now online sales rolling 12 months is surpassing 2 billion Swedish krona. So it is a significant part of Klaus Olsson and continuously working with this, making it more and more efficient and more and more customer friendly is a key priority. And we will always continue to be very cost focused and cost conscious. There are still macro challenges that we need to mitigate and balance, but at the end of the day, it's about being cost conscious to ensure that we get scalability in the business, but also that we can deliver the absolutely best value to our customers. So with that, we can move into Q&A.

Good morning, guys. Congrats on strong sales figures for November. I have a few questions and I'll start on the gross margin. Actually, I'm looking into Q3. You mentioned it briefly, Kristoffer, but you're missing easier comps on the Norwegian crown. And obviously, we don't know how that will be moving. But how should we think about the gross margin here in November and into December? Is it fair to assume that the pressure on the margin should be lower from external factors or am I wrong in that assumption?

So good morning, Simon. So I think the Norwegian crown, let's see what happens during the coming months. But we can conclude for November that there is less pressure from the Norwegian crown. That's correct. Also remember what we talked about during the summer. We saw high transportation cost increases during the summer and then we indicated that those will not start hitting the numbers until Q3, Q4. We do not know the impact of that, obviously, yet. But that is a factor to remember. And then apart from that, obviously, we are continued to being very disciplined in how we work with pricing, promotion, etc. But let's see, hopefully a small positive on the Norwegian crown aside. But we also need to remember the transportation cost. I think those are two general comments. Anything to add, Pernilla? Just factors to think of?

No. OK, that's clear. And then on the timing of Black Friday this year and online trade, should we expect some of the sales in November to be booked in December, given the timing here? Or how should we think about that?

So November, the calendar effect of November was the same this year now as 2019. So it was a bit difficult to forecast to know exactly what would happen. We did see for us Black Friday is an event where customers are out shopping, but it's not a big part of our focus. We are focused on Christmas sales. And of course, we do see Christmas coming earlier and earlier. So there was a lot of Christmas sales happening throughout the Black week, but also the weeks prior to that. So then, of course, as you state, the month ended on a Saturday. So, of course, there might be some spillover of Ecom orders, etc. into December. But we have also seen a lot of Christmas sales early on in November. So let's see where that takes us for December. But the calendar effect, the best comparison is 2019, I think, where the calendar looked similar and we didn't have that big break between Advent and Black week.

OK, that makes sense. And then my last question here is how do you consider your inventory position? Obviously, it's up somewhat, but are you given the strong sales trend so far in Q3? Do you think it's sufficient to meet demand here or should we expect some sellout issues later in December?

No, all in all, we feel pretty good about the inventory level. I think it's looking at the sales growth in November, we were able to secure good availability of products across sales channels. And then also remember that the inventory levels are obviously driven by some that we took. We have taken home goods a bit earlier, given the Red Sea challenges. There's also some structural numbers in there based on the spares acquisition. But all in all, it's we feel pretty good about the inventory moving into December now.

OK, thank you. That's all for me. So I'll jump back into Q. Thank you guys.

Thank

you.

The next question comes from Nicholas Ekman from Carnegie. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Yes, my first question is on customer recruitment. I think you mentioned this as a major driver of your sales in the past year and a half. And I'm curious how much of the growth in Q2 and also continuing into November now is related to new versus recurring customers. Is there any change here or are you still seeing a very good inflow of new customers? That's essentially my question.

I think all in all, looking at club class members, obviously we have grown 400000 members over the last year. So there is, of course, a combination of new and recurring. We do also see the activity rate in club class being very high. So I don't have any exact numbers, but I think it's a combination of new and recurring customers.

OK, fair enough. And on November sales, just to clarify, given that we've seen kind of how Black Friday has gone to be a black week to black month. Have you seen higher markdowns than usual? Is that like an industry phenomenon you're seeing or would you say that your markdown levels have been fairly similar to previous years in November?

For -O-Sohn, it's fairly similar. We haven't been more aggressive on promotions, campaigns, etc. We are very much focusing on having the right prices on a going basis. So, of course, we have done some campaigning, but not more than previously.

OK, very clear. Also, you talked about stores here. You've net opened 14 stores in the past eight months, but you only have four contracts now over the next 12 months. Any indication here of what we can expect? Are you looking at, I think, for fiscal year, you net opened eight stores last year. You've opened, and I think it looks like you're opening 10 stores this year. Are you expecting a similar pace going into next year or any reason to assume a slowdown?

For us, it's all about quality versus quantity. So, of course, it's about finding the right store locations. I don't think there is any reason to expect either a big break or acceleration of store network expansion. We're very much evaluating the stores we've opened. In general, we're very happy with the development and we see continued strong like for like. So, we hope to be able to keep a similar pace, but of course, it's always dependent on finding the right long-term locations and ensuring quality. So, we'll come back to that with some further guidance on that as we enter the spring. But hopefully, we can continue in a similar pace as we have done over the last two years.

Very clear. And can you just help me clarify? When you talk about online sales now being close to 20 percent and almost half of that is related to spares. So, you're a little above 10 percent or around 10 percent in online sales. Is that with or without Click and Collect? So, basically, what's the percentage of Click and Collect sales?

Yeah, it's including Click and Collect. So, online sales is every transaction that closes on our e-comm sites. And then the customer chooses how to pick that product up. But any transaction that closes on our e-comm sites is regarded as online, including Click and Collect.

And what is the rough percentage of Click and Collect in Klaus Olsson stores? Is that like 50 percent or more or less?

In general, I would say approximately half of the volume online flows via our physical stores. And then we have different ways of getting the product. So, Click and Collect. We also have what we call Collect in Store, where you can order online and then pick it up, pick up the order in store. And then we also have the Feeder Store. So, all in all, approximately half of the volumes flow from DC and the other half goes via the store network. But we haven't specified exactly what percentage Click and Collect is. And that also varies a lot between quarters and months. But approximately half via the store network is a good rule of thumb.

Yeah, very good. Thank you so much. Thank you.

The next question comes from Magnus Roman from Kepler Shoevrux. Please go ahead.

Thank you. Good morning. A lot of the key questions already been answered here, but I can ask one about the capital structure. I mean, you run now on a net cash position if we exclude leases. Interest rates are going down. You actually have a financial target to be below two times. So, I mean, do you see a limit here where you think you're overcapitalized or do you rather view it as a positive to be prepared of potential investment needs, acquisitions or other in the coming several years, if you could respond to that?

In general, we want to be in a very strong financial position and we want to always act from a position of strength. But then, of course, over time, it's important to ensure the right structure. But in general, we view it as a positive to be in a position where we can invest back into the business. So, yeah, I think that's that's in general that we want to be in a strong position.

Right. And just coming back again to the questions around the gross margin, just the factors that you mentioned here or the drivers in the presentation. Firstly, you mentioned the space addition and now, I guess, looking forward, that is annualized. So, I presume that we should expect small, if any, effect from that on a -on-year basis going forward. Could you also acknowledge if a freight you mentioned here is going to consider that a headwind both Q3 and Q4 with this lag? But turning positive thereafter, considering current spot rates, is that correct? And then, thirdly, maybe if you could talk a little bit more about the balance here of your efforts or the effects of your efforts to concentrate your sourcing and find efficiencies. If that is much annualizing looking ahead or if you see further positive drivers from that. Thank you.

In Q3, we expect less negative effect on the knock, as Christoffer mentioned before, due to the comparable figures are much easier. But we will also see we will not benefit from the positive term effect we had last year. And then, on the other hand, the recent week's second relation to the US dollar will have a negative effect going forward. But we don't expect that that will hit us in Q3. Then we talked a bit about the freight prices, but I think you answered that before. So maybe you will add.

Yeah, exactly. On the freight prices, yes, Q3, Q4 and then looking at the current trend of the freight prices, hopefully that headwind will about after Q3, Q4, I would say. But let's see what happens. But right now, obviously, it has a good trend and it was a big peak during summer that will impact mostly Q3, Q4.

And it's correct to assume small effects on space as it has been annualized now going forward.

Yes.

Yes.

All

right. Thank you.

The next question comes from Philip Ramquist from Sveriges Radio Ekko. Please go ahead.

Yes, hi. I have three questions. I will take them in Swedish and I hope that you could answer them in Swedish as well for our listeners. So, you have been in on this a bit, Black Week and Black Friday, that the sales have increased by 14% in November. But how important is this period of rest for your profit?

For us at Klas Olsson, Black Week is not super important, but it is a lot of Christmas shopping that is important for us. And then Black Week falls into the relationship with Christmas shopping and then we have, of course, large traffic flows and many customers are out looking for the customers. So we are also involved in Black Week, but for us, Christmas shopping is more important than Black Week.

Do you feel the need to be part of Black Week?

No, it's more that the customers are out looking for the offers and products during that week. So we see it as being relevant to customers when customers are out before Christmas.

The Riksbank has lowered the rent a number of times. How do you notice that on the customer's purchase?

We see many indications, more positive, in the future. At the same time, we still notice that customers have a pretty big economic impact on their private economy. So the rent reduction will start to be noticed even more this year. We have hopes that it will be noticed more, but generally it has been quite sustainable during this autumn with a little more positive outlook.

The last question was for Fyra. MSB has sent out a new order of the board when the crisis or war comes. What effect has that had on you?

We see that Klasåsen is a very much a destination for being structured and prepared at home. We have seen earlier during the year when there has been a lot of focus on prepping and preparation products. So it is clear that we have seen that customers have come and asked a lot of questions and also bought products for us to be prepared. I would not say that any material numbers have affected this, but it is generally positive that we see ourselves as a destination for these types of products.

We have a question for Fyra from the Q3. Back to the cash position. Relatively solid. Q3 is typically a very strong cash flow quarter. How will you utilize the cash you have? I realize that you would like to keep a strong position, but where do you see allocation in the next two years?

Overall, I do not know whether I want to comment in detail over the next two years, but if I look currently, we are reinvesting into the business when it comes to the store network. We are also investing a little bit into the IT infrastructure. Of course, the key focus for us is to allocate capital in a smart way also moving forward. For now, I think we are reinvesting into the business. We want to have a strong position, but I do not want to give any further outlook on the next few years versus the financial targets and the position that we are currently starting from.

You have a repurchase mandate now. How is your thinking about that?

Yes, we have the mandate, but we have not announced any intent to use that mandate here. It is important to also have that as part of the capital allocation toolbox on a longer term basis. The mandate is there, but we have not announced any intention of using that now.

Finally, on OPEX, now when SPARs have been included for a year, what are the main drivers of OPEX up or down going forward? Thank you.

Obviously, overall on OPEX, we want to ensure that we stay very disciplined on the overhead. We have made a lot of changes to shrink the overall overhead cost pool, and we want to ensure that continues and thereby get leverage and scale as we grow. Apart from that, of course, it is about investing in the customer meeting, investing in the business, but I would not say I would expect any big ups and downs. It is really about finding a good balance between keeping a solid cost structure in place and then investing when we have opportunities, but not expecting any big swings looking forward.

Okay, cool. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

The next question comes from Martin Eriksson from Sveriges Radio. Please go ahead.

Hello. I also wish to take my question in Swedish if that's okay for our listeners. You talk about effectiveness in the business to maintain the tempo of the investments. Sometimes it can be a bit of a Swedish thing for savings and savings. What do you mean by effectiveness?

Effectivisation is a very broad term. It is about making things smarter and easier all the time. We have also made some effectiveness in the last few years when it comes to organization changes and simplification of infrastructure and so on, as we have talked about. When we talk about the quarter, there are no special activities that have happened more than we are trying to work very effectively in all the flows and be as simple as possible and focus on what the customer thinks is important and automate the flow through the entire business.

I work for Sveriges Radio in Dalarna and here we have the distribution center in Grundar, the city of Innsjön. Can we expect to see the same number of employees there next year?

As we have talked about in the last few years, we have made big changes that have been affected when we have a less than it has been before. We have not made any information about making some big changes in the future. It is about balancing and being as effective and competitive as possible to be a strong employer over a long period of time. Competition is important, but we have not made any information about any major changes.

One last question. We have received several anonymous reports from employees at Claes Olsson's distribution center in Innsjön about the misconduct in the working environment. I apologize for that, but I think it is important for you to be able to meet that criticism. It is about the anti-facility attitude from the company management. People who are engaged in the profession are not given the space to do so at the workplace, for example, that there should be a little bit of a culture among employees. How do you respond to those questions?

We take the working environment in the most serious way when it comes to working environment, health, well-being. I would say that we have had a very constructive and good dialogue with our faculty colleagues and counterparts for a long time. We also see that we constantly measure employees' engagement and satisfaction. We have seen a very positive trend in the last 12-18 months at the distribution center. We will always work to make things better, but we have seen an improved engagement in the last year.

Thank you for the answer.

Thank you.

Five on your telephone keypad. There are no more phone questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions or closing comments.

To begin with, we do have a couple of written questions from the webcast. It is under the shadow of some of the markets commenting on another strong result. Looking into 2025, how sensitive is Klas Wilson to lower rates?

Looking into 2025, we hope that it will have a positive impact on our customers' private finances and economies. We view that as a good thing, that the purchasing power will hopefully go up. We have shown over the last few years that it is all about being relevant, selling need-based products and having high value for money in everything we are doing. We would rather have a positive economic outlook than a negative, but we have shown that we can grow significantly. We hope that it will have a positive effect, but we are focusing on what we can influence, which is the relevance in assortment and the price points and the right service.

We have a question from Filip Paretto. What was -on-year revenue growth in November that adjusted for new stores?

The -for-like growth in November was 10%. We have a comment from another participant asking why we answered questions in Swedish. I apologize for that and of course respect that this is an English-speaking forum. The two questions that came were from Swedish radio and thereby wanted Swedish answers. It was not related specifically to the quarterly report and also the comments were not specifically giving any more details or guidance on the report in itself. I apologize for that for our English-speaking audience. That was not really planned.

Finally, we have a question about the organic growth for spares. Was it above or below 4% during the first six months?

We haven't reported the organic growth for spares. November is the first month where we report organic growth. It was November last year when spares was fully included into the books of Klas Olsson. This is the first month when we start reporting organic growth also for spares. That has not been done before.

By that, a final question. Do you have -for-like for Q2 and split between regions for both Q2 and November?

Yes, I think -for-like for Q2 was 6%. Let me just double-check here. -for-like growth Q2, yes, 6% across Q2. Then the split between regions. You can find that in detail across the report. It's an exact number. I'll refer you to the report where you will see the regional split sales-wise in Q2 and also in November. In general, we have seen very strong organic growth across Sweden and Norway with double-digit growth. In Finland in November, we saw 4% organic growth. You'll find all the details in the report.

By that, we don't have any more written questions either. I'll hand back for some final remarks.

Great. Thank you very much. Thank you for good questions and good discussions. Obviously, our focus now is to do everything that we can to also deliver very high customer satisfaction across December. We'll all see each other back when we report the numbers for Q3. Thank you very much.