Marimekko - Company Announcement

STATUTORY EMPLOYER-EMPLOYEE NEGOTIATIONS ON MARIMEKKO’S OPERATIONS IN SULKAVA AND KITEE HAVE BEEN COMPLETED; DUE TO NONRECURRING COSTS, THE COMPANY REVISES ITS ESTIMATE OF OPERATING PROFIT FOR 2013

Marimekko Corporation, Stock Exchange Release, 16 May 2013, 9:30 AM


Statutory employer-employee negotiations, initiated in March 2013 by Marimekko
Corporation on potential permanent staff reductions concerning the personnel of
its manufacturing operations and the adjacent factory outlets located in
Sulkava and Kitee, Finland, have been completed. The negotiations did not
concern the personnel of the production plant in Helsinki. 

As a result of the negotiations, Marimekko is to close its production plants
located in Kitee and Sulkava as well as their adjacent factory outlets. The
arrangements will lead to the termination of 60 jobs in all. In the proposal
for the negotiations, it was estimated that the closure of the production
plants and factory outlets would result in a permanent reduction of a maximum
of 60 employees. Marimekko is currently negotiating to lease new store
premises, and if suitable premises are found, the company may be able to employ
some of the personnel that are now made redundant. In addition, employment
possibilities related to production are also explored. 

The reductions in staffing and other actions to be effected are expected to
bring an approximate total of EUR 1.0 million in annual cost savings. The
savings will be realised gradually from the beginning of 2014, and the full
impact of the profit improvement will start to be felt in the third quarter of
2014. The aim of the actions is to make it possible to manufacture more
profitable products and to secure business competitiveness also in the future.
The arrangements are estimated to incur nonrecurring costs in the amount of
around EUR 1.0 million in the second quarter of 2013. 

Due to the nonrecurring costs arising from the negotiations, Marimekko revises
its estimate for the 2013 operating profit, which the company forecast in its
Q1 interim report issued on 7 May 2013 to be, at the most, at the same level as
in 2012. According to the new estimate, the Group's operating profit for the
whole year 2013, excluding nonrecurring items, is forecast to be, at the most,
at the same level as in 2012. The estimate for net sales given in the interim
report remains unchanged. The updated estimate for 2013 in its entirety goes as
follows: the Marimekko Group's net sales are estimated to grow by over 5
percent and operating profit excluding nonrecurring items is forecast to be, at
the most, at the same level as in 2012. 


MARIMEKKO CORPORATION
Corporate Communications


Merja Paulamäki
Tel. +358 9 758 7473
merja.paulamaki@marimekko.fi


DISTRIBUTION:
NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd
Key media

Marimekko is a Finnish textile and clothing design company renowned for its
original prints and colours. The company designs and manufactures high-quality
interior decoration items ranging from furnishing fabrics to tableware as well
as clothing, bags and other accessories. When Marimekko was founded in 1951,
its unparalleled printed fabrics gave it a strong and unique identity.
Marimekko products are sold in approximately 40 countries. In 2012, brand sales
of Marimekko products worldwide amounted to approximately EUR 187 million and
the company's net sales were EUR 88 million. The number of Marimekko stores
totalled 108 at the year end. The key markets are North America, Northern
Europe and the Asia-Pacific region. The Group employs around 500 people. The
company's share is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd. www.marimekko.com