Clas Ohlson AB Q2 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Simen Aas - DNB Markets - Analyst : Good morning, guys, and 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, Kristofer, but you're meeting easier comps on the Norwegian kroner, 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? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 04, 2024 / 8:00AM, CLASb.ST - Q2 2025 Clas Ohlson AB Earnings Call

Question: Simen Aas - DNB Markets - Analyst : Okay. Yeah, 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?

Question: Simen Aas - DNB Markets - Analyst : Yeah. Okay, 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 -- and given a strong sales trend so far in Q3, do you think it's sufficient to meet the amount here or should we expect some sellout issues later in December?

Question: Simen Aas - DNB Markets - Analyst : Okay. Thank you. That was all for me, so I'll jump back in the queue. Thank you, guys. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 04, 2024 / 8:00AM, CLASb.ST - Q2 2025 Clas Ohlson AB Earnings Call

Question: Niklas Ekman - Carnegie Investment Bank AB - Analyst : Thank you. My first question is on customer recruitment. I think you mentioned this as a major driver of your sales in the past 1.5 years. 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.

Question: Niklas Ekman - Carnegie Investment Bank AB - Analyst : Okay, 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?

Question: Niklas Ekman - Carnegie Investment Bank AB - Analyst : Okay, 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?

Question: Niklas Ekman - Carnegie Investment Bank AB - Analyst : Very clear. And can you just help me clarify when you talk about online sales now being close to 20%, and almost half of that is related to Spares, so you're a little about 10% or around 10% in online sales. Is that with or without Click & Collect? So basically, what's the percentage of Click & Collect sales?

Question: Niklas Ekman - Carnegie Investment Bank AB - Analyst : And what is the rough percentage of Click & Collect in Clas Ohlson stores? Is that like 50% or more or less?

Question: Niklas Ekman - Carnegie Investment Bank AB - Analyst : Yeah, very good. Thank you so much.

Question: Magnus Rsman - Kepler Cheuvreux - Analyst : Yes, 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 at below 2 times. So I REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. DECEMBER 04, 2024 / 8:00AM, CLASb.ST - Q2 2025 Clas Ohlson AB Earnings Call 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.

Question: Magnus Rsman - Kepler Cheuvreux - Analyst : 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 Spares addition, and now I guess, looking forward, that is annualized so I presume that we should expect

Question: Magnus Rsman - Kepler Cheuvreux - Analyst : And it's correct to assume a small effect on Spares as it has been annualized now going forward?

Question: Magnus Rsman - Kepler Cheuvreux - Analyst : All right. Thank you.

Question: Andreas Lundberg - SEB Enskilda Equities - Analyst : Yeah, good morning. Thank you for taking my question. Andreas with SEB here. Back to the cash position, relatively solid, Q3 typically 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?

Question: Andreas Lundberg - SEB Enskilda Equities - Analyst : You have a repurchase mandate now. How is your thinking about that?

Question: Andreas Lundberg - SEB Enskilda Equities - Analyst : And finally, on OpEx, and now when Spares have been included for a year, how do you see -- what are the main drivers of OpEx up or down going forward? Thank you.

Question: Andreas Lundberg - SEB Enskilda Equities - Analyst : Okay, cool. Thank you so much.