Europris — Call Transcript 2024

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Europris presentation of results for the third quarter. It's been a busy quarter for us, where we show steady growth in Europris, and the ÖoB integration is progressing according to plan. Joining me on stage to present the results today are CFO Stina Byre, and Manager Trine Engløkken will manage the Q&A session at the end of the presentation. But please feel free to send in your questions as we speak. Before we start, I would like to thank ABG for hosting today's event, and also wish a very welcome to the live audience we have in the room here today. The growth journey of Europris has been stable and good for many, many years, and before the pandemic, we had almost 30 years of consecutive growth for the Europris chain, and during the pandemic, many new customers discovered our low-price stores. In the years after, we have managed to keep these customers at Europris, and we have also completed acquisitions of Strikkemekka, Lekekassen, and in May this year, we completed the acquisition of the Swedish discount retailer ÖoB. The acquisition of ÖoB adds around NOK 4 billion to our top line, and of course, that impacts the group reported figures quite significantly. We have also added the segment Sweden, which consists of ÖoB. But if you want to look at comparable figures, you should look at segment Norway, which consists of Europris and the pure play companies. Let's have a quick look at the highlights for the quarter. Group sales increased by 50.4%, with an organic growth of 4.4%. EBIT was NOK 168 million, which is a decrease of NOK 67 million, with segment Norway down NOK 22 million, and we recorded a loss in segment Sweden of NOK 45 million. Stina will provide more details on the group figures and the segments in her financial review later on. We have delivered a satisfactory quarter in what I would call a challenging market. The campaign-driven low-price concept of Europris and also ÖoB continued to deliver, and we stay relevant in the market, and especially in Norway, we also see that we have taken new market shares and that we are showing sales growth above the market. The Europris chain had a growth of 3.5% in the quarter compared to 1.7% growth for the shopping centers in Norway, and year to date, the Europris chain has a growth of 3.8% compared to 3.5% growth for both the shopping centers and the broad variety retail index as reported by Statistics Norway, so the market has been a little bit tougher. We are continuing to beat the market, which is our long-term goal. In Sweden, we saw flat footfall and sales in the third quarter, which is actually an improvement from the reductions we saw in the first half of the year. Overall, we're satisfied with the sales development, but many consumers remain cautious about their spending. We see especially that they're holding back on investment purchases and that sales are concentrated more on campaigns and consumables. This change in sales mix, in combination with hiked interest rates - no, no, excuse me - the depreciation of the currency both in Norway and Sweden, and also higher freight costs put pressure on the gross margin. As a discount retailer, we have to be aware of the price position, and we have demonstrated very good sales development and also won several price tests during the quarter. We are showing steady development, and I'm really pleased to see that the concept continues to take market shares in Norway. Let's have a look at ÖoB and the integration plan we presented back in July. We set high ambitions for ÖoB and operations in Sweden, and we aim to grow ÖoB by NOK 1 billion by 2028 and achieving an EBIT margin of 5%. We are in the red now, but are confident that our plan to turn around ÖoB will show good results and that we are doing the right actions at the moment. Our plan is based on three key initiatives. First of all, it's about category harmonization and joint sourcing. And what we're focusing on is basically to introduce the same private label assortment across the two store chains and in ÖoB introduce the same non-food assortment as we have in Europris. We will improve the customer experience. That means upgrading the stores, introducing the same shop-in-shop layouts and the same touch and feel to inspire the customers as we see in Europris. And we will strengthen execution across the whole value chain. And this is about sharing best practices between the two store chains and make sure that we implement the retail machinery that has delivered growth year after year in Europris, also into ÖoB. And I'm pleased to report that the integration is progressing according to plan. We have two organizations that we see are in really good spirit, and we see very good and solid contributions both from employees in Europris and ÖoB. Collaboration and the mood is good, and that is also always a very good basis for the collaboration. And during the quarter, we have made significant progress and made some important changes to the ÖoB plan. Andreas Skjåseth, who presented the turnaround plan back in July here in Oslo, he has taken over as country manager for ÖoB. Andreas has been in Sweden since late April, knows the organization very well, and has got off to a very good start as the new country manager of ÖoB. We have closed down ÖoB's sourcing offices in China and consolidated all operations at the joint sourcing office that Europris and Tokmanni has together in Shanghai. The joint sourcing and negotiations are progressing as planned and making good progress and showing good results. The ERP project is also on track. I think we truly state that we are making the progress that we were aiming for in the quarter. We are also implementing the Europris ways of working and have started to introduce the key elements of what I would call our retail machinery. That is, of course, all concentrated about campaigns as the first start. We are also implementing the same management principles and very tight follow-up routines as we have in Europris to be close to the business every day and collaborate between the different departments in the company. We are implementing Europris campaign principles and methodology. You can see it on the pictures. We have introduced basically the same layout for the weekly marketing leaflet and also introducing the same kind of structure for the offers. We have also adjusted the number of printed leaflets to match the same as in Europris. We follow now the same campaign plans, which also allows in the future for having the same campaigns across the two countries. To support all these changes, I'm sending one of my absolute best district managers from Europris over to Sweden. He's relocating now to support their stores in implementing all these changes. Because what's happening in Sweden right now is a lot of changes at the same time, and they need support, but we see that they are very positive to what we're doing, and they see results from the actions that they have already taken. Very good to see that employees from Europris want to contribute and move over to Sweden, and that the Swedes are very positive to see the support they get. We are also testing the visual profile of Europris in selected stores with very positive feedback from both employees and the customers. It's a lot of things going on, and you can already start to see the results in the stores. To sum up the integration, I think we have made significant progress in the quarter, and we know it will take time to see the results transform into change sales mix and also profits. We are even more confident now after this quarter that the measures we're taking are the right ones to make the change and turnaround of ÖoB. On sustainability, we continue to get recognition for our climate efforts. This quarter, we received the top score in PricewaterhouseCoopers's climate index for 2024. This adds to the recognition we have already received by Financial Times and Statista, who named us as one of Europe's climate leaders, and the A- score we received from CDP. Europris has established climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement, and we joined the Science Based Targets two years ago. In this quarter, we will actually file our final targets, which means that we are committed to zero emissions by 2050. With this, I will leave the floor to Stina, who will present the financial review. Thank you, Espen. Before I start and dive into the numbers, I would just like to repeat what Espen said on how to interpret the numbers. The group numbers are obviously impacted by including the ÖoB figures. So when we talk about the change for the group or reported figures, this includes the ÖoB numbers. And when we talk about organic change, this excludes the ÖoB numbers. And this is also the same as the change for segment Norway. Group sales were NOK 3.2 billion in the third quarter. Reported growth is more than 50%, but if we look at the organic change, the top line grew by 4.4%. The gross margin for the group was 39.7%. Including ÖoB figures has a dilutive effect for the group, and this contributed with a decline of 4 percentage points. The organic decline on the gross margin was 1.6 percentage points or 1.3 percentage points if we exclude the impact of unrealized effects from currency hedging, where we this year had a loss of NOK 7 million and last year had an unrealized gain of NOK 2 million. And the gross margin has a lot of headwind, and I will take you through the main elements. One is the product mix, where we sell a higher share of consumables that on average have a lower margin. The second is that we have higher sales growth for campaign products. This is good for footfall, but it has a dilutive impact on the margin. We have also had war surcharges implemented on our inbound freight costs following the situation in the Red Sea. And lastly, the Norwegian krone has been weaker over time. Due to our hedging strategy and inventory turnover, it takes some time for this to wash through in the P&L, and we also saw a negative impact in the third quarter. OPEX to sales was 26.5%. This is unchanged compared to last year, and we are pleased that we have been able to deliver a lower OPEX increase for. EBIT was NOK 168 million. This represents a decline of NOK 67 million. As Espen said, we have a negative EBIT of NOK 45 million in ÖoB, and the organic decline was NOK 22 million. The net profit was NOK 84 million. This is a reduction of NOK 60 million, obviously impacted by the factors that I have mentioned. In addition, we had an unrealized loss on our interest rate swaps of NOK 12 million this year compared to an unrealized gain of NOK 2 million last year. I will comment on the year-to-date figures. Cash from operating activities was NOK 365 million, down from NOK 734 million last year. There was a more negative net change in working capital this year than last year, and this is impacted by a planned inventory build-up as we wanted to make sure we had no trouble with supply of goods following, as I mentioned, the situation in the Red Sea. We have also increased the inventory of Christmas items as we last year sold out a bit too early. The net change in cash was negative with NOK 582 million. The group had a net debt of NOK 5.1 billion or NOK 1.6 billion excluding lease liabilities. The cash and liquidity reserves were NOK 1.36 billion. I have explained for segment Norway the organic decline on the P&L, so I will now focus on the top line development. Sales for segment Norway were NOK 2.2 billion, up 4.4%. The Europris chain had a like-for-like growth of 2.9%. This was supported by higher footfall campaigns and also good results for upgraded categories. The pure play companies had sales of NOK 155 million, up 11.6%, and this was attributable to strong development for Strikkemekka. It was very rewarding to see that the private label yarn that Strikkemekka and Europris have sourced together has been very welcomed by customers. Strikkemekka also made a soft launch into Germany in the quarter. We are happy to announce that we have recruited Kristoffer Langballe as Vice President of Digital Commerce. With his solid professional background, we are confident that this will ensure more support and improved follow-up of the pure play companies. Segment Sweden had sales of NOK 1 billion in the third quarter with a gross margin of 30.7% and an EBIT loss of NOK 45 million. The footfall and like-for-like sales were stable in the third quarter. And as Espen said, this is an improvement compared to the development that we saw in the first half. ÖoB had growth in campaign sales and also higher sales of consumables, while the non-food sales had lower sales, which was impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods. And with that, I will hand it back to Espen to take you through the outlook. Thank you, Stina. First of all, I would like to say that we are ready for the important Christmas season ahead of us. As many might remember, last year we had a shortage of goods. This year we have fully stocked and are ready for the Christmas season, and I'm really looking forward to that. We've been through a long period with high inflation that has put pressure on the household's economy. We've seen more price-conscious consumers over time, and they have been selecting more campaign goods and also holding back on investment purchases. So it's been a tougher climate for the consumers for quite some time, but we are starting to see signs of relief. The interest rate has already come down in Sweden. The Norwegian National Bank are indicating that there might be interest rate reductions in Norway next year. Inflation is coming down in Sweden faster than in Norway, and all in all, this is quite positive and in combination with the outlook for real wage increases in both Norway and Sweden next year with stable unemployment rates that should be supportive for low price concepts like Europris and, of course, consumption business in total, so I think that the outlook is easing up. It will take some time before we have volume growth, but it's positive for the total economy that this period with high inflation and the hiked interest rates are coming closer to the end. Regarding ÖoB and Sweden, the turnaround plan we have presented is progressing as planned. It's an ambitious plan we have ahead of us, but we are really seeing that we're making progress and are really confident that we'll be able to lift the sales up to NOK 5 billion by the end of 2028 with an EBIT margin of 5%. So the long-term outlook is positive for the Europris group. With that, I think we have concluded the presentation, and we will open up for questions. Thank you. So this is Petter from ABG. A couple of questions from me. I take one at a time. So if you start with ÖoB, you are delivering a gross margin of around 31% in this quarter. Is it possible to say what that was in Q3 last year and also briefly explain why you potentially have a change? Thanks. Yeah, we have added a spreadsheet online that can be downloaded where you see comparable historic figures that are unaudited but give you an indication, and there you will see a decline of 1.3 percentage points with growth in consumables and also higher campaigns that is explaining this development. Okay, perfect. And then on the OPEX side in Norway, that was to me a positive surprise. Do you expect that your guidance of an OPEX growth of around 10% year over year can surprise on the positive side for Europris? Yes, I expect that we will end lower than 10%. We have worked hard to come below the 10%, and we have seen results from that. We will have some headwind in the fourth quarter with the arbitration award that we had last year, but I still believe that we will deliver below what we previously guided. Perfect. And then one final question from me, and that goes for the gross margin for Europris. It seems that you might be somewhat more cautious on your gross margin comments versus previously. Do you still expect the gross margin to be up versus pre-pandemic levels? Thanks. Over time, we do believe that. But when we also made the statement, there was a different product mix and also a different mix of share of sales from consumables, share of campaigns. So this, of course, will have an impact that changed the situation, but we are confident in all the things we have done, but we cannot help the sales mix, and that does have a dilutive impact. Thank you. That was all from me. Then we go to the questions on the web. Håkon Fuglu, SEB. Thank you for taking my questions. How much of the year-on-year decline in Q3 is due to stock-taking effects, and what will it be for Q4? As we explained previously, we are now able to allocate this into the correct quarters. So this is distributed when it is supposed to have effect. Do you expect softer gross margins in 2025 on weak NOK and increased freight costs? The knock is, of course, difficult to predict. It is more in line with last year now. But if it continues to weaken further, then it will have a negative impact and vice versa if it strengthens. The remainder part of the question, sorry? Yeah, I think you broke out fine. Yeah. Based on historical trends compared to what you have seen so far, what do you expect for the Christmas season? We actually expect a quite good season. We were surprised last year that the Christmas season turned out to be so good. So we have actually prepared for significant growth, and if we look at the mini seasons, like what we are seeing right now with Halloween, we've seen that the sales is good and that people are celebrating, and I think that for sure it will be Christmas this year as well, and we are looking forward for that season, and we are well prepared. We go to Eirik Rafdal, Carnegie. Could you give an indication of sales mix this quarter between consumables, specialty retail, and general merchandise? Both in Norway and Sweden would be great. In general, it's the same trends that we have seen the previous quarter. It's kind of not major, major changes, but it's steady growth. On the 130 underlying gross margin decline in Norway, could you help us quantify the key drivers? How much is unfavorable mix year on year? How much is FX, and how much is freight? I won't go more into the details, but I have explained the main drivers. And what we have seen is that the underlying margin on per category is basically the same as before. So this is a mix issue, and it's also that we see higher campaign shares. So that's the more cautious consumers are driving this direction, and that is something we just have to support. You state higher sales of consumables while non-food had sales decline impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods in Sweden. How are inventory levels for non-food looking into the Christmas season? Could we see another flat quarter year on year, or should we expect return to negative top line development? I think it's too early to say. We have placed larger orders for goods to Sweden, and I was in China myself last week talking with some of the key suppliers. And we have already placed orders for fresh assortment to ÖoB for close to $10 million in the fourth quarter. So we are positive, but it takes time to get goods delivered. And I'm sure that we have enough on stock to sell in Sweden, but it might not be the freshest goods. But we have to sell what we have. Have you seen any behavior changes among competitors in either Norway or Sweden after you took over ÖoB? We have not seen any significant change just due to the fact that we have taken over ÖoB, but we believe that the price competition is strong in the market. When we look at Christmas goods, for instance, both in Sweden and Norway, the season kickstarts with like 30%-40% discount for many retailers. So it's a battle out there for the consumers at the moment, and that has been and will be the same also in the next quarter in both Norway and Sweden. Ole Martin Westgaard, DNB, what is the private label share in Q4? It's roughly on par with last year. Can you break down the like-for-like growth in price, basket, and traffic? The basket is slightly up, not a major change. A little bit higher on price and somewhat down on volume. You are making an aggressive upgrade of stores in ÖoB in Q4. What is the total investment related to this upgrade, and what are the lessons learned from potential pilots? It's not significant in investment. It's not a high number of investment amounts this year. We will have more coming in next year when it comes to spend. I don't know if you want to comment on that. What we're doing right now in Sweden is basically we're doing like a soft upgrade. We're upgrading the signage and how we are presenting the categories. We are not rebuilding the stores, so it's done with the existing store layout as today and the existing equipment, so we are not making major changes to the layout, but we are changing the way it looks, and the results from the test stores have been very positive, not driving a lot more sales, but making the customers feel more relaxed and inviting them to do more shopping, so it's good results, but this is not what's going to drive the major sales growth in Sweden. That will be the change to assortment, and that will take more time. What will be the impact on cost for the closure of the ÖoB China office? This was taken before and accrued for before we took over, so we haven't had any costs on that in the third quarter. How was the sales of products above NOK 1,000? It was actually slightly up in the third quarter, but it's very small numbers. So I wouldn't read too much into that. People are still cautious. How was the sales performance for Lekekassen in the quarter? It was slightly down for Lekekassen. It's tough competition, and they are seeing somewhat slight decrease in all markets. Øyvind Mossige, SpareBank 1 Markets, what will be the most important operational improvements in ÖoB in Q4, and could we see a positive EBIT margin for Q4? The most important things we're doing right now is to implement the same campaign machinery as we have in Norway. And we have tested front loading or campaign goods in some selected stores, seeing good results. We will implement that throughout the store base. We have changed the layout of the campaign leaflet and also changing the number of printed leaflets. So that is the key first change that we can do and we are doing. And that alone is not enough to make significant changes to the EBIT in a single quarter, but it's an important tool to create a lot of energy and positive results and good inspiration for the rest of the changes that we're going to do in the coming years for the ÖoB staff. So it's a very good first step to make to get some quick results on sales and motivation for the staff. The last one here from Henriette Trondsen, Arctic. September was a soft retail month according to market statistics. How has the start into Q4 been? It's too early to really comment on the fourth quarter. We're done with October, which is the smallest of the most important months of the year. So we won't say, but we can say that we were satisfied with the growth we had in the third quarter for the Europris chain. We beat the market, and I think that is a strong achievement. That was the last question. Thank you. It's actually one more. Thank you. Hi, Fredrik from Handelsbanken. Andreas Skjåseth has been taking over as Country Manager at ÖoB instead of Eva Lundqvist. Could you tell something more about why you're making these changes in that position? Of course, when we want to make a lot of changes in the company, we look at the best fit organization and the management structure we need. And Andreas had a good experience with the concept of ÖoB, fitted well into the Swedish organization. And we just concluded that to get the best drive and the speed on the implementation, a change was necessary. Thank you.

Speaker 5: Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Europris presentation of results for the third quarter. It's been a busy quarter for us, where we show steady growth in Europris, and the ÖoB integration is progressing according to plan. Joining me on stage to present the results today are CFO Stina Byre, and Manager Trine Engløkken will manage the Q&A session at the end of the presentation. But please feel free to send in your questions as we speak. Before we start, I would like to thank ABG for hosting today's event, and also wish a very welcome to the live audience we have in the room here today. The growth journey of Europris has been stable and good for many, many years, and before the pandemic, we had almost 30 years of consecutive growth for the Europris chain, and during the pandemic, many new customers discovered our low-price stores. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Europris presentation of results for the third quarter. good morning everyone and welcome to the europris presentation of results for the third quarter It's been a busy quarter for us, where we show steady growth in Europris, and the ÖoB integration is progressing according to plan. it's been a busy quarter for us where we show steady growth in europris and the öob integration is progressing according to plan Joining me on stage to present the results today are CFO Stina Byre, and Manager Trine Engløkken will manage the Q&A session at the end of the presentation. joining me on stage to present the results today are cfo stina byre and manager trine engløkken will manage the q&a session at the end of the presentation But please feel free to send in your questions as we speak. but please feel free to send in your questions as we speak Before we start, I would like to thank ABG for hosting today's event, and also wish a very welcome to the live audience we have in the room here today. before we start i would like to thank abg for hosting today's event and also wish a very welcome to the live audience we have in the room here today The growth journey of Europris has been stable and good for many, many years, and before the pandemic, we had almost 30 years of consecutive growth for the Europris chain, and during the pandemic, many new customers discovered our low-price stores. the growth journey of europris has been stable and good for many many years and before the pandemic we had almost 30 years of consecutive growth for the europris chain and during the pandemic many new customers discovered our low-price stores In the years after, we have managed to keep these customers at Europris, and we have also completed acquisitions of Strikkemekka, Lekekassen, and in May this year, we completed the acquisition of the Swedish discount retailer ÖoB. The acquisition of ÖoB adds around NOK 4 billion to our top line, and of course, that impacts the group reported figures quite significantly. We have also added the segment Sweden, which consists of ÖoB. But if you want to look at comparable figures, you should look at segment Norway, which consists of Europris and the pure play companies. Let's have a quick look at the highlights for the quarter. Group sales increased by 50.4%, with an organic growth of 4.4%. EBIT was NOK 168 million, which is a decrease of NOK 67 million, with segment Norway down NOK 22 million, and we recorded a loss in segment Sweden of NOK 45 million. In the years after, we have managed to keep these customers at Europris, and we have also completed acquisitions of Strikkemekka, Lekekassen, and in May this year, we completed the acquisition of the Swedish discount retailer ÖoB. in the years after we have managed to keep these customers at europris and we have also completed acquisitions of strikkemekka lekekassen and in may this year we completed the acquisition of the swedish discount retailer öob The acquisition of ÖoB adds around NOK 4 billion to our top line, and of course, that impacts the group reported figures quite significantly. the acquisition of öob adds around nok 4 billion to our top line and of course that impacts the group reported figures quite significantly We have also added the segment Sweden, which consists of ÖoB. we have also added the segment sweden which consists of öob But if you want to look at comparable figures, you should look at segment Norway, which consists of Europris and the pure play companies. but if you want to look at comparable figures you should look at segment norway which consists of europris and the pure play companies Let's have a quick look at the highlights for the quarter. let's have a quick look at the highlights for the quarter Group sales increased by 50.4%, with an organic growth of 4.4%. group sales increased by 50.4% with an organic growth of 4.4% EBIT was NOK 168 million, which is a decrease of NOK 67 million, with segment Norway down NOK 22 million, and we recorded a loss in segment Sweden of NOK 45 million. ebit was nok 168 million which is a decrease of nok 67 million with segment norway down nok 22 million and we recorded a loss in segment sweden of nok 45 million Stina will provide more details on the group figures and the segments in her financial review later on. We have delivered a satisfactory quarter in what I would call a challenging market. The campaign-driven low-price concept of Europris and also ÖoB continued to deliver, and we stay relevant in the market, and especially in Norway, we also see that we have taken new market shares and that we are showing sales growth above the market. The Europris chain had a growth of 3.5% in the quarter compared to 1.7% growth for the shopping centers in Norway, and year to date, the Europris chain has a growth of 3.8% compared to 3.5% growth for both the shopping centers and the broad variety retail index as reported by Statistics Norway, so the market has been a little bit tougher. We are continuing to beat the market, which is our long-term goal. Stina will provide more details on the group figures and the segments in her financial review later on. stina will provide more details on the group figures and the segments in her financial review later on We have delivered a satisfactory quarter in what I would call a challenging market. we have delivered a satisfactory quarter in what i would call a challenging market The campaign-driven low-price concept of Europris and also ÖoB continued to deliver, and we stay relevant in the market, and especially in Norway, we also see that we have taken new market shares and that we are showing sales growth above the market. the campaign-driven low-price concept of europris and also öob continued to deliver and we stay relevant in the market and especially in norway we also see that we have taken new market shares and that we are showing sales growth above the market The Europris chain had a growth of 3.5% in the quarter compared to 1.7% growth for the shopping centers in Norway, and year to date, the Europris chain has a growth of 3.8% compared to 3.5% growth for both the shopping centers and the broad variety retail index as reported by Statistics Norway, so the market has been a little bit tougher. the europris chain had a growth of 3.5% in the quarter compared to 1.7% growth for the shopping centers in norway and year to date the europris chain has a growth of 3.8% compared to 3.5% growth for both the shopping centers and the broad variety retail index as reported by statistics norway so the market has been a little bit tougher We are continuing to beat the market, which is our long-term goal. we are continuing to beat the market which is our long-term goal In Sweden, we saw flat footfall and sales in the third quarter, which is actually an improvement from the reductions we saw in the first half of the year. Overall, we're satisfied with the sales development, but many consumers remain cautious about their spending. We see especially that they're holding back on investment purchases and that sales are concentrated more on campaigns and consumables. This change in sales mix, in combination with hiked interest rates - no, no, excuse me - the depreciation of the currency both in Norway and Sweden, and also higher freight costs put pressure on the gross margin. As a discount retailer, we have to be aware of the price position, and we have demonstrated very good sales development and also won several price tests during the quarter. In Sweden, we saw flat footfall and sales in the third quarter, which is actually an improvement from the reductions we saw in the first half of the year. in sweden we saw flat footfall and sales in the third quarter which is actually an improvement from the reductions we saw in the first half of the year Overall, we're satisfied with the sales development, but many consumers remain cautious about their spending. overall we're satisfied with the sales development but many consumers remain cautious about their spending We see especially that they're holding back on investment purchases and that sales are concentrated more on campaigns and consumables. we see especially that they're holding back on investment purchases and that sales are concentrated more on campaigns and consumables This change in sales mix, in combination with hiked interest rates - no, no, excuse me - the depreciation of the currency both in Norway and Sweden, and also higher freight costs put pressure on the gross margin. this change in sales mix in combination with hiked interest rates - no no, excuse me - the depreciation of the currency both in norway and sweden and also higher freight costs put pressure on the gross margin As a discount retailer, we have to be aware of the price position, and we have demonstrated very good sales development and also won several price tests during the quarter. as a discount retailer we have to be aware of the price position and we have demonstrated very good sales development and also won several price tests during the quarter We are showing steady development, and I'm really pleased to see that the concept continues to take market shares in Norway. Let's have a look at ÖoB and the integration plan we presented back in July. We set high ambitions for ÖoB and operations in Sweden, and we aim to grow ÖoB by NOK 1 billion by 2028 and achieving an EBIT margin of 5%. We are in the red now, but are confident that our plan to turn around ÖoB will show good results and that we are doing the right actions at the moment. Our plan is based on three key initiatives. First of all, it's about category harmonization and joint sourcing. And what we're focusing on is basically to introduce the same private label assortment across the two store chains and in ÖoB introduce the same non-food assortment as we have in Europris. We are showing steady development, and I'm really pleased to see that the concept continues to take market shares in Norway. we are showing steady development and i'm really pleased to see that the concept continues to take market shares in norway Let's have a look at ÖoB and the integration plan we presented back in July. let's have a look at öob and the integration plan we presented back in july We set high ambitions for ÖoB and operations in Sweden, and we aim to grow ÖoB by NOK 1 billion by 2028 and achieving an EBIT margin of 5%. we set high ambitions for öob and operations in sweden and we aim to grow öob by nok 1 billion by 2028 and achieving an ebit margin of 5% We are in the red now, but are confident that our plan to turn around ÖoB will show good results and that we are doing the right actions at the moment. we are in the red now but are confident that our plan to turn around öob will show good results and that we are doing the right actions at the moment Our plan is based on three key initiatives. our plan is based on three key initiatives First of all, it's about category harmonization and joint sourcing. first of all it's about category harmonization and joint sourcing And what we're focusing on is basically to introduce the same private label assortment across the two store chains and in ÖoB introduce the same non-food assortment as we have in Europris. and what we're focusing on is basically to introduce the same private label assortment across the two store chains and in öob introduce the same non-food assortment as we have in europris We will improve the customer experience. That means upgrading the stores, introducing the same shop-in-shop layouts and the same touch and feel to inspire the customers as we see in Europris. And we will strengthen execution across the whole value chain. And this is about sharing best practices between the two store chains and make sure that we implement the retail machinery that has delivered growth year after year in Europris, also into ÖoB. And I'm pleased to report that the integration is progressing according to plan. We have two organizations that we see are in really good spirit, and we see very good and solid contributions both from employees in Europris and ÖoB. Collaboration and the mood is good, and that is also always a very good basis for the collaboration. And during the quarter, we have made significant progress and made some important changes to the ÖoB plan. We will improve the customer experience. we will improve the customer experience That means upgrading the stores, introducing the same shop-in-shop layouts and the same touch and feel to inspire the customers as we see in Europris. that means upgrading the stores introducing the same shop-in-shop layouts and the same touch and feel to inspire the customers as we see in europris And we will strengthen execution across the whole value chain. and we will strengthen execution across the whole value chain And this is about sharing best practices between the two store chains and make sure that we implement the retail machinery that has delivered growth year after year in Europris, also into ÖoB. and this is about sharing best practices between the two store chains and make sure that we implement the retail machinery that has delivered growth year after year in europris also into öob And I'm pleased to report that the integration is progressing according to plan. and i'm pleased to report that the integration is progressing according to plan We have two organizations that we see are in really good spirit, and we see very good and solid contributions both from employees in Europris and ÖoB. we have two organizations that we see are in really good spirit and we see very good and solid contributions both from employees in europris and öob Collaboration and the mood is good, and that is also always a very good basis for the collaboration. collaboration and the mood is good and that is also always a very good basis for the collaboration And during the quarter, we have made significant progress and made some important changes to the ÖoB plan. and during the quarter we have made significant progress and made some important changes to the öob plan Andreas Skjåseth, who presented the turnaround plan back in July here in Oslo, he has taken over as country manager for ÖoB. Andreas has been in Sweden since late April, knows the organization very well, and has got off to a very good start as the new country manager of ÖoB. We have closed down ÖoB's sourcing offices in China and consolidated all operations at the joint sourcing office that Europris and Tokmanni has together in Shanghai. The joint sourcing and negotiations are progressing as planned and making good progress and showing good results. The ERP project is also on track. I think we truly state that we are making the progress that we were aiming for in the quarter. We are also implementing the Europris ways of working and have started to introduce the key elements of what I would call our retail machinery. Andreas Skjåseth, who presented the turnaround plan back in July here in Oslo, he has taken over as country manager for ÖoB . andreas skjåseth who presented the turnaround plan back in july here in oslo he has taken over as country manager for öob Andreas has been in Sweden since late April, knows the organization very well, and has got off to a very good start as the new country manager of ÖoB. andreas has been in sweden since late april knows the organization very well and has got off to a very good start as the new country manager of öob We have closed down ÖoB 's sourcing offices in China and consolidated all operations at the joint sourcing office that Europris and Tokmanni has together in Shanghai. we have closed down öob 's sourcing offices in china and consolidated all operations at the joint sourcing office that europris and tokmanni has together in shanghai The joint sourcing and negotiations are progressing as planned and making good progress and showing good results. the joint sourcing and negotiations are progressing as planned and making good progress and showing good results The ERP project is also on track. the erp project is also on track I think we truly state that we are making the progress that we were aiming for in the quarter. i think we truly state that we are making the progress that we were aiming for in the quarter We are also implementing the Europris ways of working and have started to introduce the key elements of what I would call our retail machinery. we are also implementing the europris ways of working and have started to introduce the key elements of what i would call our retail machinery That is, of course, all concentrated about campaigns as the first start. We are also implementing the same management principles and very tight follow-up routines as we have in Europris to be close to the business every day and collaborate between the different departments in the company. We are implementing Europris campaign principles and methodology. You can see it on the pictures. We have introduced basically the same layout for the weekly marketing leaflet and also introducing the same kind of structure for the offers. We have also adjusted the number of printed leaflets to match the same as in Europris. We follow now the same campaign plans, which also allows in the future for having the same campaigns across the two countries. To support all these changes, I'm sending one of my absolute best district managers from Europris over to Sweden. That is, of course, all concentrated about campaigns as the first start. that is of course all concentrated about campaigns as the first start We are also implementing the same management principles and very tight follow-up routines as we have in Europris to be close to the business every day and collaborate between the different departments in the company. we are also implementing the same management principles and very tight follow-up routines as we have in europris to be close to the business every day and collaborate between the different departments in the company We are implementing Europris campaign principles and methodology. we are implementing europris campaign principles and methodology You can see it on the pictures. you can see it on the pictures We have introduced basically the same layout for the weekly marketing leaflet and also introducing the same kind of structure for the offers. we have introduced basically the same layout for the weekly marketing leaflet and also introducing the same kind of structure for the offers We have also adjusted the number of printed leaflets to match the same as in Europris. we have also adjusted the number of printed leaflets to match the same as in europris We follow now the same campaign plans, which also allows in the future for having the same campaigns across the two countries. we follow now the same campaign plans which also allows in the future for having the same campaigns across the two countries To support all these changes, I'm sending one of my absolute best district managers from Europris over to Sweden. to support all these changes i'm sending one of my absolute best district managers from europris over to sweden He's relocating now to support their stores in implementing all these changes. Because what's happening in Sweden right now is a lot of changes at the same time, and they need support, but we see that they are very positive to what we're doing, and they see results from the actions that they have already taken. Very good to see that employees from Europris want to contribute and move over to Sweden, and that the Swedes are very positive to see the support they get. We are also testing the visual profile of Europris in selected stores with very positive feedback from both employees and the customers. It's a lot of things going on, and you can already start to see the results in the stores. He's relocating now to support their stores in implementing all these changes. he's relocating now to support their stores in implementing all these changes Because what's happening in Sweden right now is a lot of changes at the same time, and they need support, but we see that they are very positive to what we're doing, and they see results from the actions that they have already taken. because what's happening in sweden right now is a lot of changes at the same time and they need support but we see that they are very positive to what we're doing and they see results from the actions that they have already taken Very good to see that employees from Europris want to contribute and move over to Sweden, and that the Swedes are very positive to see the support they get. very good to see that employees from europris want to contribute and move over to sweden and that the swedes are very positive to see the support they get We are also testing the visual profile of Europris in selected stores with very positive feedback from both employees and the customers. we are also testing the visual profile of europris in selected stores with very positive feedback from both employees and the customers It's a lot of things going on, and you can already start to see the results in the stores. it's a lot of things going on and you can already start to see the results in the stores To sum up the integration, I think we have made significant progress in the quarter, and we know it will take time to see the results transform into change sales mix and also profits. We are even more confident now after this quarter that the measures we're taking are the right ones to make the change and turnaround of ÖoB. On sustainability, we continue to get recognition for our climate efforts. This quarter, we received the top score in PricewaterhouseCoopers's climate index for 2024. This adds to the recognition we have already received by Financial Times and Statista, who named us as one of Europe's climate leaders, and the A- score we received from CDP. Europris has established climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement, and we joined the Science Based Targets two years ago. To sum up the integration, I think we have made significant progress in the quarter, and we know it will take time to see the results transform into change sales mix and also profits. to sum up the integration i think we have made significant progress in the quarter and we know it will take time to see the results transform into change sales mix and also profits We are even more confident now after this quarter that the measures we're taking are the right ones to make the change and turnaround of ÖoB. we are even more confident now after this quarter that the measures we're taking are the right ones to make the change and turnaround of öob On sustainability, we continue to get recognition for our climate efforts. on sustainability we continue to get recognition for our climate efforts This quarter, we received the top score in PricewaterhouseCoopers's climate index for 2024. this quarter we received the top score in pricewaterhousecoopers's climate index for 2024 This adds to the recognition we have already received by Financial Times and Statista, who named us as one of Europe's climate leaders, and the A- score we received from CDP. this adds to the recognition we have already received by financial times and statista who named us as one of europe's climate leaders and the a- score we received from cdp Europris has established climate targets aligned with the Paris Agreement, and we joined the Science Based Targets two years ago. europris has established climate targets aligned with the paris agreement and we joined the science based targets two years ago In this quarter, we will actually file our final targets, which means that we are committed to zero emissions by 2050. With this, I will leave the floor to Stina, who will present the financial review. In this quarter, we will actually file our final targets, which means that we are committed to zero emissions by 2050. in this quarter we will actually file our final targets which means that we are committed to zero emissions by 2050 With this, I will leave the floor to Stina, who will present the financial review. with this i will leave the floor to stina who will present the financial review

Speaker 4: Thank you, Espen. Before I start and dive into the numbers, I would just like to repeat what Espen said on how to interpret the numbers. The group numbers are obviously impacted by including the ÖoB figures. So when we talk about the change for the group or reported figures, this includes the ÖoB numbers. And when we talk about organic change, this excludes the ÖoB numbers. And this is also the same as the change for segment Norway. Group sales were NOK 3.2 billion in the third quarter. Reported growth is more than 50%, but if we look at the organic change, the top line grew by 4.4%. The gross margin for the group was 39.7%. Including ÖoB figures has a dilutive effect for the group, and this contributed with a decline of 4 percentage points. Thank you, Espen. thank you espen Before I start and dive into the numbers, I would just like to repeat what Espen said on how to interpret the numbers. before i start and dive into the numbers i would just like to repeat what espen said on how to interpret the numbers The group numbers are obviously impacted by including the ÖoB figures. the group numbers are obviously impacted by including the öob figures So when we talk about the change for the group or reported figures, this includes the ÖoB numbers. so when we talk about the change for the group or reported figures this includes the öob numbers And when we talk about organic change, this excludes the ÖoB numbers. and when we talk about organic change this excludes the öob numbers And this is also the same as the change for segment Norway. and this is also the same as the change for segment norway Group sales were NOK 3.2 billion in the third quarter. group sales were nok 3.2 billion in the third quarter Reported growth is more than 50%, but if we look at the organic change, the top line grew by 4.4%. reported growth is more than 50% but if we look at the organic change the top line grew by 4.4% The gross margin for the group was 39.7%. the gross margin for the group was 39.7% Including ÖoB figures has a dilutive effect for the group, and this contributed with a decline of 4 percentage points. including öob figures has a dilutive effect for the group and this contributed with a decline of 4 percentage points The organic decline on the gross margin was 1.6 percentage points or 1.3 percentage points if we exclude the impact of unrealized effects from currency hedging, where we this year had a loss of NOK 7 million and last year had an unrealized gain of NOK 2 million. And the gross margin has a lot of headwind, and I will take you through the main elements. One is the product mix, where we sell a higher share of consumables that on average have a lower margin. The second is that we have higher sales growth for campaign products. This is good for footfall, but it has a dilutive impact on the margin. We have also had war surcharges implemented on our inbound freight costs following the situation in the Red Sea. And lastly, the Norwegian krone has been weaker over time. The organic decline on the gross margin was 1.6 percentage points or 1.3 percentage points if we exclude the impact of unrealized effects from currency hedging, where we this year had a loss of NOK 7 million and last year had an unrealized gain of NOK 2 million . the organic decline on the gross margin was 1.6 percentage points or 1.3 percentage points if we exclude the impact of unrealized effects from currency hedging where we this year had a loss of nok 7 million and last year had an unrealized gain of nok 2 million And the gross margin has a lot of headwind, and I will take you through the main elements. and the gross margin has a lot of headwind and i will take you through the main elements One is the product mix, where we sell a higher share of consumables that on average have a lower margin. one is the product mix where we sell a higher share of consumables that on average have a lower margin The second is that we have higher sales growth for campaign products. the second is that we have higher sales growth for campaign products This is good for footfall, but it has a dilutive impact on the margin. this is good for footfall but it has a dilutive impact on the margin We have also had war surcharges implemented on our inbound freight costs following the situation in the Red Sea. we have also had war surcharges implemented on our inbound freight costs following the situation in the red sea And lastly, the Norwegian krone has been weaker over time. and lastly the norwegian krone has been weaker over time Due to our hedging strategy and inventory turnover, it takes some time for this to wash through in the P&L, and we also saw a negative impact in the third quarter. OPEX to sales was 26.5%. This is unchanged compared to last year, and we are pleased that we have been able to deliver a lower OPEX increase for. EBIT was NOK 168 million. This represents a decline of NOK 67 million. As Espen said, we have a negative EBIT of NOK 45 million in ÖoB, and the organic decline was NOK 22 million. The net profit was NOK 84 million. This is a reduction of NOK 60 million, obviously impacted by the factors that I have mentioned. In addition, we had an unrealized loss on our interest rate swaps of NOK 12 million this year compared to an unrealized gain of NOK 2 million last year. I will comment on the year-to-date figures. Due to our hedging strategy and inventory turnover, it takes some time for this to wash through in the P&L, and we also saw a negative impact in the third quarter. due to our hedging strategy and inventory turnover it takes some time for this to wash through in the p&l and we also saw a negative impact in the third quarter OPEX to sales was 26.5%. opex to sales was 26.5% This is unchanged compared to last year, and we are pleased that we have been able to deliver a lower OPEX increase for. this is unchanged compared to last year and we are pleased that we have been able to deliver a lower opex increase for EBIT was NOK 168 million. ebit was nok 168 million This represents a decline of NOK 67 million. this represents a decline of nok 67 million As Espen said, we have a negative EBIT of NOK 45 million in ÖoB, and the organic decline was NOK 22 million. as espen said we have a negative ebit of nok 45 million in öob and the organic decline was nok 22 million The net profit was NOK 84 million. the net profit was nok 84 million This is a reduction of NOK 60 million, obviously impacted by the factors that I have mentioned. this is a reduction of nok 60 million obviously impacted by the factors that i have mentioned In addition, we had an unrealized loss on our interest rate swaps of NOK 12 million this year compared to an unrealized gain of NOK 2 million last year. in addition we had an unrealized loss on our interest rate swaps of nok 12 million this year compared to an unrealized gain of nok 2 million last year I will comment on the year-to-date figures. i will comment on the year-to-date figures Cash from operating activities was NOK 365 million, down from NOK 734 million last year. There was a more negative net change in working capital this year than last year, and this is impacted by a planned inventory build-up as we wanted to make sure we had no trouble with supply of goods following, as I mentioned, the situation in the Red Sea. We have also increased the inventory of Christmas items as we last year sold out a bit too early. The net change in cash was negative with NOK 582 million. The group had a net debt of NOK 5.1 billion or NOK 1.6 billion excluding lease liabilities. The cash and liquidity reserves were NOK 1.36 billion. I have explained for segment Norway the organic decline on the P&L, so I will now focus on the top line development. Sales for segment Norway were NOK 2.2 billion, up 4.4%. Cash from operating activities was NOK 365 million, down from NOK 734 million last year. cash from operating activities was nok 365 million down from nok 734 million last year There was a more negative net change in working capital this year than last year, and this is impacted by a planned inventory build-up as we wanted to make sure we had no trouble with supply of goods following, as I mentioned, the situation in the Red Sea. there was a more negative net change in working capital this year than last year and this is impacted by a planned inventory build-up as we wanted to make sure we had no trouble with supply of goods following as i mentioned the situation in the red sea We have also increased the inventory of Christmas items as we last year sold out a bit too early. we have also increased the inventory of christmas items as we last year sold out a bit too early The net change in cash was negative with NOK 582 million. the net change in cash was negative with nok 582 million The group had a net debt of NOK 5.1 billion or NOK 1.6 billion excluding lease liabilities. the group had a net debt of nok 5.1 billion or nok 1.6 billion excluding lease liabilities The cash and liquidity reserves were NOK 1.36 billion. the cash and liquidity reserves were nok 1.36 billion I have explained for segment Norway the organic decline on the P&L, so I will now focus on the top line development. i have explained for segment norway the organic decline on the p&l so i will now focus on the top line development Sales for segment Norway were NOK 2.2 billion, up 4.4%. sales for segment norway were nok 2.2 billion up 4.4% The Europris chain had a like-for-like growth of 2.9%. This was supported by higher footfall campaigns and also good results for upgraded categories. The pure play companies had sales of NOK 155 million, up 11.6%, and this was attributable to strong development for Strikkemekka. It was very rewarding to see that the private label yarn that Strikkemekka and Europris have sourced together has been very welcomed by customers. Strikkemekka also made a soft launch into Germany in the quarter. We are happy to announce that we have recruited Kristoffer Langballe as Vice President of Digital Commerce. With his solid professional background, we are confident that this will ensure more support and improved follow-up of the pure play companies. Segment Sweden had sales of NOK 1 billion in the third quarter with a gross margin of 30.7% and an EBIT loss of NOK 45 million. The Europris chain had a like-for-like growth of 2.9%. the europris chain had a like-for-like growth of 2.9% This was supported by higher footfall campaigns and also good results for upgraded categories. this was supported by higher footfall campaigns and also good results for upgraded categories The pure play companies had sales of NOK 155 million, up 11.6%, and this was attributable to strong development for Strikkemekka. the pure play companies had sales of nok 155 million up 11.6% and this was attributable to strong development for strikkemekka It was very rewarding to see that the private label yarn that Strikkemekka and Europris have sourced together has been very welcomed by customers. it was very rewarding to see that the private label yarn that strikkemekka and europris have sourced together has been very welcomed by customers Strikkemekka also made a soft launch into Germany in the quarter. strikkemekka also made a soft launch into germany in the quarter We are happy to announce that we have recruited Kristoffer Langballe as Vice President of Digital Commerce. we are happy to announce that we have recruited kristoffer langballe as vice president of digital commerce With his solid professional background, we are confident that this will ensure more support and improved follow-up of the pure play companies. with his solid professional background we are confident that this will ensure more support and improved follow-up of the pure play companies Segment Sweden had sales of NOK 1 billion in the third quarter with a gross margin of 30.7% and an EBIT loss of NOK 45 million. segment sweden had sales of nok 1 billion in the third quarter with a gross margin of 30.7% and an ebit loss of nok 45 million The footfall and like-for-like sales were stable in the third quarter. And as Espen said, this is an improvement compared to the development that we saw in the first half. ÖoB had growth in campaign sales and also higher sales of consumables, while the non-food sales had lower sales, which was impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods. And with that, I will hand it back to Espen to take you through the outlook. The footfall and like-for-like sales were stable in the third quarter. the footfall and like-for-like sales were stable in the third quarter And as Espen said, this is an improvement compared to the development that we saw in the first half. and as espen said this is an improvement compared to the development that we saw in the first half ÖoB had growth in campaign sales and also higher sales of consumables, while the non-food sales had lower sales, which was impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods. öob had growth in campaign sales and also higher sales of consumables while the non-food sales had lower sales which was impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods And with that, I will hand it back to Espen to take you through the outlook. and with that i will hand it back to espen to take you through the outlook

Speaker 5: Thank you, Stina. First of all, I would like to say that we are ready for the important Christmas season ahead of us. As many might remember, last year we had a shortage of goods. This year we have fully stocked and are ready for the Christmas season, and I'm really looking forward to that. We've been through a long period with high inflation that has put pressure on the household's economy. We've seen more price-conscious consumers over time, and they have been selecting more campaign goods and also holding back on investment purchases. So it's been a tougher climate for the consumers for quite some time, but we are starting to see signs of relief. The interest rate has already come down in Sweden. The Norwegian National Bank are indicating that there might be interest rate reductions in Norway next year. Thank you, Stina. thank you stina First of all, I would like to say that we are ready for the important Christmas season ahead of us. first of all i would like to say that we are ready for the important christmas season ahead of us As many might remember, last year we had a shortage of goods. as many might remember last year we had a shortage of goods This year we have fully stocked and are ready for the Christmas season, and I'm really looking forward to that. this year we have fully stocked and are ready for the christmas season and i'm really looking forward to that We've been through a long period with high inflation that has put pressure on the household's economy. we've been through a long period with high inflation that has put pressure on the household's economy We've seen more price-conscious consumers over time, and they have been selecting more campaign goods and also holding back on investment purchases. we've seen more price-conscious consumers over time and they have been selecting more campaign goods and also holding back on investment purchases So it's been a tougher climate for the consumers for quite some time, but we are starting to see signs of relief. so it's been a tougher climate for the consumers for quite some time but we are starting to see signs of relief The interest rate has already come down in Sweden. the interest rate has already come down in sweden The Norwegian National Bank are indicating that there might be interest rate reductions in Norway next year. the norwegian national bank are indicating that there might be interest rate reductions in norway next year Inflation is coming down in Sweden faster than in Norway, and all in all, this is quite positive and in combination with the outlook for real wage increases in both Norway and Sweden next year with stable unemployment rates that should be supportive for low price concepts like Europris and, of course, consumption business in total, so I think that the outlook is easing up. It will take some time before we have volume growth, but it's positive for the total economy that this period with high inflation and the hiked interest rates are coming closer to the end. Regarding ÖoB and Sweden, the turnaround plan we have presented is progressing as planned. Inflation is coming down in Sweden faster than in Norway, and all in all, this is quite positive and in combination with the outlook for real wage increases in both Norway and Sweden next year with stable unemployment rates that should be supportive for low price concepts like Europris and, of course, consumption business in total, so I think that the outlook is easing up. inflation is coming down in sweden faster than in norway and all in all this is quite positive and in combination with the outlook for real wage increases in both norway and sweden next year with stable unemployment rates that should be supportive for low price concepts like europris and of course consumption business in total so i think that the outlook is easing up It will take some time before we have volume growth, but it's positive for the total economy that this period with high inflation and the hiked interest rates are coming closer to the end. it will take some time before we have volume growth but it's positive for the total economy that this period with high inflation and the hiked interest rates are coming closer to the end Regarding ÖoB and Sweden, the turnaround plan we have presented is progressing as planned. regarding öob and sweden the turnaround plan we have presented is progressing as planned It's an ambitious plan we have ahead of us, but we are really seeing that we're making progress and are really confident that we'll be able to lift the sales up to NOK 5 billion by the end of 2028 with an EBIT margin of 5%. So the long-term outlook is positive for the Europris group. With that, I think we have concluded the presentation, and we will open up for questions. It's an ambitious plan we have ahead of us, but we are really seeing that we're making progress and are really confident that we'll be able to lift the sales up to NOK 5 billion by the end of 2028 with an EBIT margin of 5%. it's an ambitious plan we have ahead of us but we are really seeing that we're making progress and are really confident that we'll be able to lift the sales up to nok 5 billion by the end of 2028 with an ebit margin of 5% So the long-term outlook is positive for the Europris group. so the long-term outlook is positive for the europris group With that, I think we have concluded the presentation, and we will open up for questions. with that i think we have concluded the presentation and we will open up for questions Thank you. So this is Petter from ABG. A couple of questions from me. I take one at a time. So if you start with ÖoB, you are delivering a gross margin of around 31% in this quarter. Is it possible to say what that was in Q3 last year and also briefly explain why you potentially have a change? Thanks. Thank you. thank you So this is Petter from ABG. so this is petter from abg A couple of questions from me. a couple of questions from me I take one at a time. i take one at a time So if you start with ÖoB, you are delivering a gross margin of around 31% in this quarter. so if you start with öob you are delivering a gross margin of around 31% in this quarter Is it possible to say what that was in Q3 last year and also briefly explain why you potentially have a change? is it possible to say what that was in q3 last year and also briefly explain why you potentially have a change Thanks. thanks

Speaker 4: Yeah, we have added a spreadsheet online that can be downloaded where you see comparable historic figures that are unaudited but give you an indication, and there you will see a decline of 1.3 percentage points with growth in consumables and also higher campaigns that is explaining this development. Yeah, we have added a spreadsheet online that can be downloaded where you see comparable historic figures that are unaudited but give you an indication, and there you will see a decline of 1.3 percentage points with growth in consumables and also higher campaigns that is explaining this development. yeah we have added a spreadsheet online that can be downloaded where you see comparable historic figures that are unaudited but give you an indication and there you will see a decline of 1.3 percentage points with growth in consumables and also higher campaigns that is explaining this development Okay, perfect. And then on the OPEX side in Norway, that was to me a positive surprise. Do you expect that your guidance of an OPEX growth of around 10% year over year can surprise on the positive side for Europris? Okay, perfect. okay perfect And then on the OPEX side in Norway, that was to me a positive surprise. and then on the opex side in norway that was to me a positive surprise Do you expect that your guidance of an OPEX growth of around 10% year over year can surprise on the positive side for Europris? do you expect that your guidance of an opex growth of around 10% year over year can surprise on the positive side for europris Yes, I expect that we will end lower than 10%. We have worked hard to come below the 10%, and we have seen results from that. We will have some headwind in the fourth quarter with the arbitration award that we had last year, but I still believe that we will deliver below what we previously guided. Yes, I expect that we will end lower than 10%. yes i expect that we will end lower than 10% We have worked hard to come below the 10%, and we have seen results from that. we have worked hard to come below the 10% and we have seen results from that We will have some headwind in the fourth quarter with the arbitration award that we had last year, but I still believe that we will deliver below what we previously guided. we will have some headwind in the fourth quarter with the arbitration award that we had last year but i still believe that we will deliver below what we previously guided Perfect. And then one final question from me, and that goes for the gross margin for Europris. It seems that you might be somewhat more cautious on your gross margin comments versus previously. Do you still expect the gross margin to be up versus pre-pandemic levels? Thanks. Perfect. perfect And then one final question from me, and that goes for the gross margin for Europris. and then one final question from me and that goes for the gross margin for europris It seems that you might be somewhat more cautious on your gross margin comments versus previously. it seems that you might be somewhat more cautious on your gross margin comments versus previously Do you still expect the gross margin to be up versus pre-pandemic levels? do you still expect the gross margin to be up versus pre-pandemic levels Thanks. thanks Over time, we do believe that. But when we also made the statement, there was a different product mix and also a different mix of share of sales from consumables, share of campaigns. So this, of course, will have an impact that changed the situation, but we are confident in all the things we have done, but we cannot help the sales mix, and that does have a dilutive impact. Over time, we do believe that. over time we do believe that But when we also made the statement, there was a different product mix and also a different mix of share of sales from consumables, share of campaigns. but when we also made the statement there was a different product mix and also a different mix of share of sales from consumables share of campaigns So this, of course, will have an impact that changed the situation, but we are confident in all the things we have done, but we cannot help the sales mix, and that does have a dilutive impact. so this of course will have an impact that changed the situation but we are confident in all the things we have done but we cannot help the sales mix and that does have a dilutive impact Thank you. That was all from me. Thank you. thank you That was all from me. that was all from me

Speaker 2: Then we go to the questions on the web. Håkon Fuglu, SEB. Thank you for taking my questions. How much of the year-on-year decline in Q3 is due to stock-taking effects, and what will it be for Q4? Then we go to the questions on the web. then we go to the questions on the web Håkon Fuglu, SEB. håkon fuglu seb Thank you for taking my questions. thank you for taking my questions How much of the year-on-year decline in Q3 is due to stock-taking effects, and what will it be for Q4? how much of the year-on-year decline in q3 is due to stock-taking effects and what will it be for q4

Speaker 4: As we explained previously, we are now able to allocate this into the correct quarters. So this is distributed when it is supposed to have effect. As we explained previously, we are now able to allocate this into the correct quarters. as we explained previously we are now able to allocate this into the correct quarters So this is distributed when it is supposed to have effect. so this is distributed when it is supposed to have effect

Speaker 2: Do you expect softer gross margins in 2025 on weak NOK and increased freight costs? Do you expect softer gross margins in 2025 on weak NOK and increased freight costs? do you expect softer gross margins in 2025 on weak nok and increased freight costs

Speaker 4: The knock is, of course, difficult to predict. It is more in line with last year now. But if it continues to weaken further, then it will have a negative impact and vice versa if it strengthens. The remainder part of the question, sorry? The knock is, of course, difficult to predict. the knock is of course difficult to predict It is more in line with last year now. it is more in line with last year now But if it continues to weaken further, then it will have a negative impact and vice versa if it strengthens. but if it continues to weaken further then it will have a negative impact and vice versa if it strengthens The remainder part of the question, sorry? the remainder part of the question sorry

Speaker 2: Yeah, I think you broke out fine. Yeah. Based on historical trends compared to what you have seen so far, what do you expect for the Christmas season? Yeah, I think you broke out fine. yeah i think you broke out fine Yeah. yeah Based on historical trends compared to what you have seen so far, what do you expect for the Christmas season? based on historical trends compared to what you have seen so far what do you expect for the christmas season

Speaker 5: We actually expect a quite good season. We were surprised last year that the Christmas season turned out to be so good. So we have actually prepared for significant growth, and if we look at the mini seasons, like what we are seeing right now with Halloween, we've seen that the sales is good and that people are celebrating, and I think that for sure it will be Christmas this year as well, and we are looking forward for that season, and we are well prepared. We actually expect a quite good season. we actually expect a quite good season We were surprised last year that the Christmas season turned out to be so good. we were surprised last year that the christmas season turned out to be so good So we have actually prepared for significant growth, and if we look at the mini seasons, like what we are seeing right now with Halloween, we've seen that the sales is good and that people are celebrating, and I think that for sure it will be Christmas this year as well, and we are looking forward for that season, and we are well prepared. so we have actually prepared for significant growth and if we look at the mini seasons like what we are seeing right now with halloween we've seen that the sales is good and that people are celebrating and i think that for sure it will be christmas this year as well and we are looking forward for that season and we are well prepared

Speaker 2: We go to Eirik Rafdal, Carnegie. Could you give an indication of sales mix this quarter between consumables, specialty retail, and general merchandise? Both in Norway and Sweden would be great. We go to Eirik Rafdal, Carnegie. we go to eirik rafdal carnegie Could you give an indication of sales mix this quarter between consumables, specialty retail, and general merchandise? could you give an indication of sales mix this quarter between consumables specialty retail and general merchandise Both in Norway and Sweden would be great. both in norway and sweden would be great

Speaker 4: In general, it's the same trends that we have seen the previous quarter. It's kind of not major, major changes, but it's steady growth. In general, it's the same trends that we have seen the previous quarter. in general it's the same trends that we have seen the previous quarter It's kind of not major, major changes, but it's steady growth. it's kind of not major major changes but it's steady growth

Speaker 2: On the 130 underlying gross margin decline in Norway, could you help us quantify the key drivers? How much is unfavorable mix year on year? How much is FX, and how much is freight? On the 130 underlying gross margin decline in Norway, could you help us quantify the key drivers? on the 130 underlying gross margin decline in norway could you help us quantify the key drivers How much is unfavorable mix year on year? how much is unfavorable mix year on year How much is FX, and how much is freight? how much is fx and how much is freight

Speaker 4: I won't go more into the details, but I have explained the main drivers. I won't go more into the details, but I have explained the main drivers. i won't go more into the details but i have explained the main drivers

Speaker 5: And what we have seen is that the underlying margin on per category is basically the same as before. So this is a mix issue, and it's also that we see higher campaign shares. So that's the more cautious consumers are driving this direction, and that is something we just have to support. And what we have seen is that the underlying margin on per category is basically the same as before. and what we have seen is that the underlying margin on per category is basically the same as before So this is a mix issue, and it's also that we see higher campaign shares. so this is a mix issue and it's also that we see higher campaign shares So that's the more cautious consumers are driving this direction, and that is something we just have to support. so that's the more cautious consumers are driving this direction and that is something we just have to support

Speaker 2: You state higher sales of consumables while non-food had sales decline impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods in Sweden. How are inventory levels for non-food looking into the Christmas season? Could we see another flat quarter year on year, or should we expect return to negative top line development? You state higher sales of consumables while non-food had sales decline impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods in Sweden. you state higher sales of consumables while non-food had sales decline impacted by low inventories and limited availability of goods in sweden How are inventory levels for non-food looking into the Christmas season? how are inventory levels for non-food looking into the christmas season Could we see another flat quarter year on year, or should we expect return to negative top line development? could we see another flat quarter year on year or should we expect return to negative top line development

Speaker 5: I think it's too early to say. We have placed larger orders for goods to Sweden, and I was in China myself last week talking with some of the key suppliers. And we have already placed orders for fresh assortment to ÖoB for close to $10 million in the fourth quarter. So we are positive, but it takes time to get goods delivered. And I'm sure that we have enough on stock to sell in Sweden, but it might not be the freshest goods. But we have to sell what we have. I think it's too early to say. i think it's too early to say We have placed larger orders for goods to Sweden, and I was in China myself last week talking with some of the key suppliers. we have placed larger orders for goods to sweden and i was in china myself last week talking with some of the key suppliers And we have already placed orders for fresh assortment to ÖoB for close to $10 million in the fourth quarter. and we have already placed orders for fresh assortment to öob for close to $10 million in the fourth quarter So we are positive, but it takes time to get goods delivered. so we are positive but it takes time to get goods delivered And I'm sure that we have enough on stock to sell in Sweden, but it might not be the freshest goods. and i'm sure that we have enough on stock to sell in sweden but it might not be the freshest goods But we have to sell what we have. but we have to sell what we have

Speaker 2: Have you seen any behavior changes among competitors in either Norway or Sweden after you took over ÖoB? Have you seen any behavior changes among competitors in either Norway or Sweden after you took over ÖoB? have you seen any behavior changes among competitors in either norway or sweden after you took over öob

Speaker 5: We have not seen any significant change just due to the fact that we have taken over ÖoB, but we believe that the price competition is strong in the market. When we look at Christmas goods, for instance, both in Sweden and Norway, the season kickstarts with like 30%-40% discount for many retailers. So it's a battle out there for the consumers at the moment, and that has been and will be the same also in the next quarter in both Norway and Sweden. We have not seen any significant change just due to the fact that we have taken over ÖoB, but we believe that the price competition is strong in the market. we have not seen any significant change just due to the fact that we have taken over öob but we believe that the price competition is strong in the market When we look at Christmas goods, for instance, both in Sweden and Norway, the season kickstarts with like 30%-40% discount for many retailers. when we look at christmas goods for instance both in sweden and norway the season kickstarts with like 30%-40% discount for many retailers So it's a battle out there for the consumers at the moment, and that has been and will be the same also in the next quarter in both Norway and Sweden. so it's a battle out there for the consumers at the moment and that has been and will be the same also in the next quarter in both norway and sweden

Speaker 2: Ole Martin Westgaard, DNB, what is the private label share in Q4? Ole Martin Westgaard, DNB, what is the private label share in Q4? ole martin westgaard dnb what is the private label share in q4

Speaker 4: It's roughly on par with last year. It's roughly on par with last year. it's roughly on par with last year

Speaker 2: Can you break down the like-for-like growth in price, basket, and traffic? Can you break down the like-for-like growth in price, basket, and traffic? can you break down the like-for-like growth in price basket and traffic

Speaker 4: The basket is slightly up, not a major change. A little bit higher on price and somewhat down on volume. The basket is slightly up, not a major change. the basket is slightly up not a major change A little bit higher on price and somewhat down on volume. a little bit higher on price and somewhat down on volume

Speaker 2: You are making an aggressive upgrade of stores in ÖoB in Q4. What is the total investment related to this upgrade, and what are the lessons learned from potential pilots? You are making an aggressive upgrade of stores in ÖoB in Q4. you are making an aggressive upgrade of stores in öob in q4 What is the total investment related to this upgrade, and what are the lessons learned from potential pilots? what is the total investment related to this upgrade and what are the lessons learned from potential pilots

Speaker 4: It's not significant in investment. It's not a high number of investment amounts this year. We will have more coming in next year when it comes to spend. I don't know if you want to comment on that. It's not significant in investment. it's not significant in investment It's not a high number of investment amounts this year. it's not a high number of investment amounts this year We will have more coming in next year when it comes to spend. we will have more coming in next year when it comes to spend I don't know if you want to comment on that. i don't know if you want to comment on that

Speaker 5: What we're doing right now in Sweden is basically we're doing like a soft upgrade. We're upgrading the signage and how we are presenting the categories. We are not rebuilding the stores, so it's done with the existing store layout as today and the existing equipment, so we are not making major changes to the layout, but we are changing the way it looks, and the results from the test stores have been very positive, not driving a lot more sales, but making the customers feel more relaxed and inviting them to do more shopping, so it's good results, but this is not what's going to drive the major sales growth in Sweden. That will be the change to assortment, and that will take more time. What we're doing right now in Sweden is basically we're doing like a soft upgrade. what we're doing right now in sweden is basically we're doing like a soft upgrade We're upgrading the signage and how we are presenting the categories. we're upgrading the signage and how we are presenting the categories We are not rebuilding the stores, so it's done with the existing store layout as today and the existing equipment, so we are not making major changes to the layout, but we are changing the way it looks, and the results from the test stores have been very positive, not driving a lot more sales, but making the customers feel more relaxed and inviting them to do more shopping, so it's good results, but this is not what's going to drive the major sales growth in Sweden. we are not rebuilding the stores so it's done with the existing store layout as today and the existing equipment so we are not making major changes to the layout but we are changing the way it looks and the results from the test stores have been very positive not driving a lot more sales but making the customers feel more relaxed and inviting them to do more shopping so it's good results but this is not what's going to drive the major sales growth in sweden That will be the change to assortment, and that will take more time. that will be the change to assortment and that will take more time

Speaker 2: What will be the impact on cost for the closure of the ÖoB China office? What will be the impact on cost for the closure of the ÖoB China office? what will be the impact on cost for the closure of the öob china office

Speaker 4: This was taken before and accrued for before we took over, so we haven't had any costs on that in the third quarter. This was taken before and accrued for before we took over, so we haven't had any costs on that in the third quarter. this was taken before and accrued for before we took over so we haven't had any costs on that in the third quarter

Speaker 2: How was the sales of products above NOK 1,000? How was the sales of products above NOK 1,000? how was the sales of products above nok 1,000

Speaker 4: It was actually slightly up in the third quarter, but it's very small numbers. So I wouldn't read too much into that. People are still cautious. It was actually slightly up in the third quarter, but it's very small numbers. it was actually slightly up in the third quarter but it's very small numbers So I wouldn't read too much into that. so i wouldn't read too much into that People are still cautious. people are still cautious

Speaker 2: How was the sales performance for Lekekassen in the quarter? How was the sales performance for Lekekassen in the quarter? how was the sales performance for lekekassen in the quarter

Speaker 4: It was slightly down for Lekekassen. It's tough competition, and they are seeing somewhat slight decrease in all markets. It was slightly down for Lekekassen. it was slightly down for lekekassen It's tough competition, and they are seeing somewhat slight decrease in all markets. it's tough competition and they are seeing somewhat slight decrease in all markets

Speaker 2: Øyvind Mossige, SpareBank 1 Markets, what will be the most important operational improvements in ÖoB in Q4, and could we see a positive EBIT margin for Q4? Øyvind Mossige, SpareBank 1 Markets, what will be the most important operational improvements in ÖoB in Q4, and could we see a positive EBIT margin for Q4? øyvind mossige sparebank 1 markets what will be the most important operational improvements in öob in q4 and could we see a positive ebit margin for q4

Speaker 5: The most important things we're doing right now is to implement the same campaign machinery as we have in Norway. And we have tested front loading or campaign goods in some selected stores, seeing good results. We will implement that throughout the store base. We have changed the layout of the campaign leaflet and also changing the number of printed leaflets. So that is the key first change that we can do and we are doing. And that alone is not enough to make significant changes to the EBIT in a single quarter, but it's an important tool to create a lot of energy and positive results and good inspiration for the rest of the changes that we're going to do in the coming years for the ÖoB staff. So it's a very good first step to make to get some quick results on sales and motivation for the staff. The most important things we're doing right now is to implement the same campaign machinery as we have in Norway. the most important things we're doing right now is to implement the same campaign machinery as we have in norway And we have tested front loading or campaign goods in some selected stores, seeing good results. and we have tested front loading or campaign goods in some selected stores seeing good results We will implement that throughout the store base. we will implement that throughout the store base We have changed the layout of the campaign leaflet and also changing the number of printed leaflets. we have changed the layout of the campaign leaflet and also changing the number of printed leaflets So that is the key first change that we can do and we are doing. so that is the key first change that we can do and we are doing And that alone is not enough to make significant changes to the EBIT in a single quarter, but it's an important tool to create a lot of energy and positive results and good inspiration for the rest of the changes that we're going to do in the coming years for the ÖoB staff. and that alone is not enough to make significant changes to the ebit in a single quarter but it's an important tool to create a lot of energy and positive results and good inspiration for the rest of the changes that we're going to do in the coming years for the öob staff So it's a very good first step to make to get some quick results on sales and motivation for the staff. so it's a very good first step to make to get some quick results on sales and motivation for the staff

Speaker 2: The last one here from Henriette Trondsen, Arctic. September was a soft retail month according to market statistics. How has the start into Q4 been? The last one here from Henriette Trondsen, Arctic. the last one here from henriette trondsen arctic September was a soft retail month according to market statistics. september was a soft retail month according to market statistics How has the start into Q4 been? how has the start into q4 been

Speaker 5: It's too early to really comment on the fourth quarter. We're done with October, which is the smallest of the most important months of the year. So we won't say, but we can say that we were satisfied with the growth we had in the third quarter for the Europris chain. We beat the market, and I think that is a strong achievement. It's too early to really comment on the fourth quarter. it's too early to really comment on the fourth quarter We're done with October, which is the smallest of the most important months of the year. we're done with october which is the smallest of the most important months of the year So we won't say, but we can say that we were satisfied with the growth we had in the third quarter for the Europris chain. so we won't say but we can say that we were satisfied with the growth we had in the third quarter for the europris chain We beat the market, and I think that is a strong achievement. we beat the market and i think that is a strong achievement

Speaker 2: That was the last question. That was the last question. that was the last question

Speaker 5: Thank you. It's actually one more. Thank you. thank you It's actually one more. it's actually one more Thank you. Hi, Fredrik from Handelsbanken. Andreas Skjåseth has been taking over as Country Manager at ÖoB instead of Eva Lundqvist. Could you tell something more about why you're making these changes in that position? Thank you. thank you Hi, Fredrik from Handelsbanken. hi fredrik from handelsbanken Andreas Skjåseth has been taking over as Country Manager at ÖoB instead of Eva Lundqvist. andreas skjåseth has been taking over as country manager at öob instead of eva lundqvist Could you tell something more about why you're making these changes in that position? could you tell something more about why you're making these changes in that position Of course, when we want to make a lot of changes in the company, we look at the best fit organization and the management structure we need. And Andreas had a good experience with the concept of ÖoB, fitted well into the Swedish organization. And we just concluded that to get the best drive and the speed on the implementation, a change was necessary. Of course, when we want to make a lot of changes in the company, we look at the best fit organization and the management structure we need. of course when we want to make a lot of changes in the company we look at the best fit organization and the management structure we need And Andreas had a good experience with the concept of ÖoB, fitted well into the Swedish organization. and andreas had a good experience with the concept of öob fitted well into the swedish organization And we just concluded that to get the best drive and the speed on the implementation, a change was necessary. and we just concluded that to get the best drive and the speed on the implementation a change was necessary Thank you. Thank you. thank you