Tiimari Oyj Abp - Company Announcement

Tiimari Group ceases its non-profitable operations and focuses on growing the company's profitable core operations

TIIMARI PLC         STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE 20 JANUARY 2010 at 08.30             


TIIMARI GROUP CEASES ITS NON-PROFITABLE OPERATIONS AND FOCUSES ON GROWING THE   
COMPANY'S PROFITABLE CORE OPERATIONS                                            

The efficiency measures of Tiimari Retail Ltd. in Finland will continue in order
to improve profitability. Measures to improve operational efficiency have been  
taken during the latter part of last year in the shop operations, especially by 
investing in logistics related activities. Even though Tiimari Retail improved  
efficiency on working hours in shops by about 7 % during 2009, the investments  
made and operational changes enable additional optimisation of the working hours
and thereby further cost savings of about 7-9 %. The company shall optimise its 
dense shop network.  This will increase the critical mass in the profitable     
shops and improve profitability. In Finland, the operations will be consolidated
into the Tiimari chain and closure of the non-profitable Gallerix Finland Ltd.  
will be discussed in the commencing cooperation negotiations.                   

The company will commence cooperation negotiations in both Tiimari Retail Ltd.  
and Gallerix Finland Ltd. and the efficiency measures will affect all personnel 
in the companies. The adjustment activities are likely for a number of shops to 
result in closings and consequent dismissals. The company estimates the         
personnel effects in domestic operations to be 25 at the most, of which about   
one third affects headquarter operations.                                       

The company has decided to cease its operations in Poland as the operations are 
unprofitable. The closing activities will commence immediately and the target is
to finalise the project during the first quarter. The retirement from Poland    
results in non-recurring balance sheet item write-downs, which are expected to  
have an EUR -1.4 million effect on the 2009 financial year result. Additionally,
this is estimated to result in an EUR -0.3 million closing cost impacting 2010  
result and cash flow. The operating profit for the Polish company in 2009 was   
about EUR -0.6 million. In Sweden, in alignment with the strategy, the company  
will focus on the profitable core operations by developing the Gallerix chain   
and consolidating Tiimari Sweden's profitable operations into Gallerix and      
closing the non-profitable shops. To improve profitability in the company's     
Baltic operations, their operational efficiency will be further enhanced.       
In addition to the costs relating to the closing of the Polish operations, the  
non-recurring costs related to inventory revaluation due to the optimisation of 
the product offering and closing of shops and the Tiimari Sweden non-current    
asset valuation costs are estimated to amount to EUR 2-3 million.               

“Improving the company's operational efficiency is a key factor in ensuring our 
long term success. With the efficiency measures we will achieve planned annual  
savings of about EUR 3 million, of which a majority is expected to be realised  
this year. Additionally, the optimisation of the shop network in Finland will   
gradually lead to increased operational profitability and cash flow during the  
next two years. Our investments focus mainly on shop operations and efficiency  
improvements in logistics. Simultaneously, efforts will be made to continuously 
develop our product offering to ensure long term growth. In the short term our  
aim is to increase operational cash flow. The current decisions enable the      
company to focus on growing its profitable core operations, improve             
profitability as well as ensure the competitiveness of the company in the long  
term”, states CEO Hannu Krook.                                                  


Hannu Krook                                                                     
CEO                                                                             
Tiimari Plc                                                                     

Further information: CEO Hannu Krook                                            
tel. + 358 (0)3 812911
e-mail hannu.krook@tiimari.fi 

Distribution: NASDAQ OMX Helsinki                                               
important news media                                                            
www.tiimari.com                                                                 

Tiimari Plc shares are listed at Nasdaq OMX Helsinki Plc. The Group comprises   
two retail shop concepts, Tiimari and Gallerix. The concepts operate nearly 300 
shops in six countries within the Baltic Sea region. Both concepts belong to  
the forerunners within their business segments.