Lindex powers ahead for Stockmann, department stores begin to recover

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Oct 29, 2021

Finnish retail giant Stockmann reported its Q3 results on Friday with the three months to the end of September having “improved clearly in both divisions”.

The company owns its eponymous department stores but also the Lindex fashion brand that’s available in mainland Europe and the UK.

It said it saw consolidated revenue of €237.8 million in the period, which was up 12% year-on-year at comparable currency rates.

And also good news was that the gross margin rose from 57.4% to 59.5%, helping operating profit to hit €33.2 million after €14.3 million a year ago.

That continued the improving trend of the first nine months as a whole when consolidated sales rose 8.8% to €621.5 million and operating profits swung to €31.8 million from a loss of €14 million in the prior year’s period.

CEO Jari Latvanen said: “Stockmann Group’s third quarter was very strong. Lindex made its best quarterly result ever, €31.6 million, and the Stockmann division improved its performance clearly, by €4.7 million, reaching a positive result. Due to the increasing vaccination rate, the customer flows started to reach healthier levels in the third quarter.”

In fact, Lindex generated an “outstanding” result due to “increased sales in all markets and business areas, and a very high gross margin”. Sales in its physical stores “were boosted due to higher visitor levels, and the strong development in the online store continued”.

The easing of Covid restrictions meant that Lindex Q3 sales through physical stores were back at 2019 levels, despite some retsirctions still being in place and affecting a number of its stores. And as well as this, online growth continues to rise with a strong increase compared to 2019.

And for the first time since Q4 2019, the Stockmann division “delivered a positive result, slightly above zero”. Sales in the stores “increased clearly during the third quarter and changed the balance between the sales channels. [But] both channels showed healthy growth during the quarter”.

In the division, sales increased throughout the period, resulting in a “notable cumulative improvement both online and in brick-and-mortar stores. A similar trend is visible in customer volumes, ending in a total volume on a par with the previous year”.