Oslo, 28 October 2021: Total operating revenue in the quarter ended at NOK 2.7 billion (NOK 2.8 billion) significantly impacted by delayed deliveries of incoming goods, especially bicycles. XXL is not satisfied with the customer traffic and sales development, and has sharpened campaign activities to regain market shares over time.
Highlights from the quarter:
- Operating revenue of NOK 2 686 million (NOK 2 823 million) – negative growth impacted by late delivery of bicycles
- Continued strong E-commerce growth of 18 per cent
- Gross margin of 38.9 per cent (40.8 per cent) – sharpened campaign activities
- EBITDA of NOK 336 million (NOK 420 million)
CEO Pål Wibe says:
- Bike sales still suffer from delayed deliveries for the second quarter in a row. In addition to this, the freight market has been challenging and freight costs have increased. Although these are external factors and have hit us hard in the quarter, we cannot be satisfied with the sales development and customer traffic.
- Online we still see a healthy growth. We have built the largest online sports retailer in the Nordics, and will now take the next steps. We are currently developing an ambitious E-commerce plan that will help us to fuel this growth further and gain market shares over time.
- We also sharpen our campaign activities and continue to improve category strategy and plans, as well as strengthening product availability. This will help us in reaching the full potential of the XXL concept.
XXL is in the phase of implementing several strategic initiatives and projects to improve the customer journey and operational efficiency going forward. These include new store layouts, RFID, electronic price labels as well as operational retail solutions.
The financial position of the Group continues to be solid with liquidity reserves of NOK 1.4 billion (NOK 1.2 billion). Extraordinary dividends of NOK 500 million will be distributed to the shareholders during H2 2021.
Outlook
XXL’s target and goal going forward is to over time gain market shares in all markets and continue the growth in the E-commerce channel.
XXL targets to stabilize the gross margin above 39 per cent.
In line with the existing strategy, XXL will continue to invest in operational efficiency, selective new store openings, Ecommerce platform, existing stores, infrastructure and IT.
Total CAPEX for XXL Group in 2021 is expected to be around NOK 250-300 million.
Going forward XXL expects the pace of the store roll-out to be 3-5 new stores per year. XXL has signed 2 new lease agreements for store openings in 2021 where of 1 in Sweden and 1 in Austria (opened on 16 September 2021). XXL has signed 3 new lease agreements for store openings in 2022, whereof 1 in Norway and 2 in Sweden. In addition the outlet store in Töcksfors, Sweden, will close down during 2022. XXL will continue to downsize several of the existing stores.
For further information please find attached the quarterly report and the presentation material. For APMs please see the quarterly report for further definitions and reconciliations.
The results will be presented at 08:30 CET by CEO Pål Wibe and CFO Stein Eriksen. The presentation will be held in English and will be webcasted at www.xxlasa.com.
For further queries, please contact:
Investor Relations:
Tolle O. R. Grøterud
Phone: +47 90 27 29 59
E-mail: ir@xxlasa.com
Press contact:
Andreas Nyheim
Phone: + 47 952 11 779
Email: presse@xxl.no
This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
About XXL ASA
XXL is a leading sports retailer with stores and e-commerce in Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Austria. It is the largest among the major sports retailers in the Nordics. XXL pursues a broad customer appeal, offering a one stop shop experience with a wide range of products for sports, hunting, skiing, biking and other outdoor activities. XXL's concept is to have the largest stores with the best prices and the widest assortment of products, focusing on branded goods.