Stockmann - Financial Statement Release

Stockmann Group’s Financial Statement Bulletin 2012

Improved revenue and earnings in 2012: operating profit up EUR 17 million

Helsinki, Finland, 2013-02-13 07:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STOCKMANN plc,
Financial Statement Release 13.2.2013 at 8.00 EET 

October - December 2012:
Consolidated revenue grew by 2.8 per cent to EUR 643.8 million (EUR 626.1
million). 
Operating profit was EUR 56.8 million (EUR 59.3 million).

January - December 2012:
Consolidated revenue grew by 5.5 per cent to EUR 2 116.4 million (EUR 2 005.3
million). 
Operating profit was EUR 87.3 million (EUR 70.1 million).
Profit for the year was EUR 53.6 million (EUR 30.8 million)
Earnings per share came to EUR 0.74 (EUR 0.43).
The Board of Directors will propose to the Annual General Meeting that a
dividend of EUR 0.60 per share be paid. 

CEO Hannu Penttilä:
The Stockmann Group's revenue grew by 5.5 per cent in 2012 and its full-year
operating profit improved by EUR 17 million. After several difficult years, I'm
happy to see that we achieved a positive operating profit in our Russian
operations for the first time since the start of the financial crisis in 2008.
In particular our department stores in Russia made a big improvement in their
profitability and all seven stores improved their revenue and earnings.
Stockmann's Nevsky Centre shopping centre in St Petersburg has also achieved
its targets and it made a good contribution to the improvement. Good
development also continued in all our businesses in the Baltic countries, which
have recovered from the financial crisis. 

The European debt crisis has created a lot of uncertainty among consumers,
which resulted in slow market growth in the Nordic countries in 2012. Christmas
sales performance was as we had expected in department stores, but performance
in Hobby Hall and in our fashion chains in all the Nordic countries was weaker.
However, Lindex successfully increased its market shares and earnings in most
of its markets in 2012. 

Stockmann's profit for the year increased more than the operating profit,
mainly due to lower net financing costs and a lowered corporate tax rate in
Sweden as of 2013, which had an impact on deferred tax liability. As a result,
earnings per share were up 73 per cent. 

No permanent solution has been found for Europe's debt crisis and this will
continue to cause uncertainty in 2013. Slow growth must be taken into account
in our Finnish department stores in particular, where operating profit in 2012
fell short of expectations. Seppälä's comprehensive brand renewal creates an
opportunity for the fashion chain to improve its earnings performance. 

The Stockmann Group's internationalisation reached an important milestone in
2012, when the share of the international revenue exceeded the revenue in
Finland for the first time. This trend will also continue in the future.
Stockmann expects the Group's revenue to grow in 2013, excluding the terminated
franchising operations. Operating profit is expected to be higher than in 2012. 

Outlook for 2013
The European economy is expected to remain unstable in 2013. No permanent
solution has been found for Europe's debt crisis, and this will cause
uncertainty in the retail market performance. Declining purchasing power may
further weaken consumers' confidence and it seems probable that the market in
Finland will experience a long period of low growth. The market for affordable
fashion in the Nordic countries developed poorly both in 2011 and 2012,
particularly in Sweden, but the outlook for 2013 is expected to improve
slightly. 

The Russian market is likely to continue to perform better than the Nordic
markets, provided that the price of oil does not significantly drop from its
current level. The growth of the retail markets in the Baltic countries is
expected to continue. However, high uncertainty and low consumer confidence may
continue to affect consumers' willingness to make purchases in all market
areas. 

Stockmann's decision to discontinue the Bestseller franchising in Russia and
Zara franchising in Finland will somewhat slow down the revenue growth. In
Russia the discontinuation will, however, improve the operating profit.
Attention will be given to improving cost efficiency in particular in Finland.
The Group's capital expenditure is estimated to be lower than depreciation, and
to amount to approximately EUR 60 million in 2013. 

Stockmann expects the Group's revenue to increase in 2013, excluding the
terminated franchising operations. Operating profit is expected to be higher
than in 2012. The first-quarter operating result will be negative due to normal
seasonal variation. 

Key figures

                                                10-12/  10-12/    1-12/    1-12/
                                                  2012    2011     2012     2011
Revenue, EUR mill.                               643.8   626.1  2 116.4  2 005.3
Revenue growth, %                                  2.8     8.5      5.5     10.1
Gross margin, %                                   49.5    48.6     49.5     48.7
Operating profit, EUR mill.                       56.8    59.3     87.3     70.1
Net financial costs, EUR mill.                     8.7     8.1     32.4     34.4
Profit before tax, EUR mill.                      48.2    51.1     54.9     35.7
Profit for the period, EUR mill.                  47.7    45.2     53.6     30.8
Earnings per share, undiluted, EUR                0.66    0.63     0.74     0.43
Equity per share, EUR                                             12.40    12.11
Cash flow from operating activities, EUR mill.   141.1   179.8    123.7     66.2
Capital expenditure, EUR mill.                    19.4    15.7     60.3     66.0
Net gearing, %                                                     90.9     95.3
Equity ratio, %                                                    42.8     42.2
Number of shares, undiluted, weighted average,                   71 945   71 496
 1 000 pc                                                                       
Return on capital employed,                                         5.1      4.1
rolling 12 months                                                               
Personnel, average                              16 101  16 183   15 603   15 964

This company announcement is a summary of the Stockmann Financial Statements
Bulletin 2012 and includes the most relevant information of the bulletin. The
complete bulletin is attached to this release as a pdf file and is also
available on the company's website at www.stockmanngroup.com. 

Annual General Meeting 2013
The Annual General Meeting of Stockmann plc will be held on Thursday 21 March
2013 at 2 p. m. at Finlandia Hall in Helsinki, Finland (address:
Mannerheimintie 13). Notice of the Annual General Meeting which includes
proposals to the meeting is published as a separate stock exchange release on
13 February 2013. 

Financial releases in 2013
Stockmann will publish its financial statements, the report by the Board of
Directors and an electronic version of the Annual Report 2012 in the week 9,
latest on 28 February 2013. The printed Annual Report will be available in the
week starting on 11 March 2013. 

The 2013 interim reports will be released on 26 April 2013, 9 August 2013, and
30 October 2013. 

Press and analyst briefing and conference call
A press and analyst briefing in Finnish will be held today, on 13 February 2013
at 9.15 a.m. at the F8 Tema restaurant on the 8th floor of Stockmann's Helsinki
city centre department store, Aleksanterinkatu 52. 

A conference call in English will be held today, on 13 February 2013 at 11.15
a.m. EET. To participate the conference call, please dial +358 9 8864 8511 and,
when requested, key in the meeting room number *657899* including the
asterisks. The presentation material will be available for downloading on the
company's website from 9.15 a.m. EET onwards. 

Further information:
Hannu Penttilä, CEO, tel. +358 9 121 5801
Pekka Vähähyyppä, CFO, tel. +358 9 121 3351

www.stockmanngroup.com


STOCKMANN plc

Hannu Penttilä
CEO


Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX
Principal media

Attachments:

Financial Statements 2012 ENG.pdf