Stockmann - Company Announcement

Stockmann Group's sales in December and for full year 2015

Helsinki, Finland, 2016-01-15 08:00 CET (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STOCKMANN plc,
Company Announcement 15.1.2016 at 09:00 EET 

The Stockmann Group's sales in December amounted to EUR 173.7 million, of which
retail sales under the Stockmann and Lindex brands, excluding Russia and the
product areas the company has withdrawn from, amounted to EUR 146.0 million.
Sales in the continuing product and market areas were up 1.6 per cent due to
Lindex’s excellent Christmas sales. 

The Group’s sales for the full year 2015 amounted to EUR 1 563.0 million, of
which retail sales under the Stockmann and Lindex brands, excluding Russia and
the product areas the company has withdrawn from, amounted to EUR 1 245.8
million. Sales in the continuing product and market areas were down by 1.3 per
cent. 

“In 2015, the Stockmann Group implemented its strategy determinedly and
withdrew from several operations that were outside its core business. Stockmann
will also withdraw from its retail business in Russia. In the future we will
focus on retail under the Stockmann and Lindex brands, and our real estate
operations. Although the full-year sales of our core business did not grow, the
direction is the correct one. Stockmann’s comparable sales were up in December
and our market share in our biggest product area, fashion, has grown in 2015,
although we have reduced the number of price-driven campaigns. Lindex was very
successful in its Christmas sales with sales growth of over 8 per cent in
December,” says Per Thelin, CEO of Stockmann. 

Stockmann divested Seppälä and the Academic Bookstore during 2015, and also
replaced some of its own product areas in the department stores (e.g.
electronics, books and toys) by those of tenants. A new owner is being searched
for the Hobby Hall distance retail business in Finland. In November 2015,
Stockmann announced that it will sell its Russian department store operations
to Reviva Holdings Limited. The operations are estimated to transfer to the new
owner on 1 February 2016. In its financial statement for 2015 Stockmann will
report Russian department store business as a discontinuing operation.
Stockmann will publish its financial statements bulletin for 2015 on 18
February 2016 at 8:00 EET. 

Sales in December 2015

The Stockmann Group's sales amounted to EUR 173.7 million in December 2015.
Sales in the continuing product and market areas (excluding Russian retail
operations, Seppälä, Hobby Hall, and the product areas the company has
withdrawn from) were up 1.6 per cent. 

Stockmann Retail's sales in the continuing product and market areas (excluding
Russia, Seppälä, Hobby Hall, and the product areas the company has withdrawn
from) were down by 5.6 per cent. In Finland, department stores’ sales in the
continuing product areas were down by 6.2 per cent, which was partly due to a
smaller number of price-driven sale campaigns. The strongest sales growth was
achieved in the cosmetics product area. Sales in the Baltic countries’
continuing product areas were down by 1.0 per cent. Partly due to the weak
Russian rouble, euro-denominated sales in Russia were down by 25.4 per cent. 

Lindex's sales were up 7.2 per cent at comparable exchange rates. The good
sales development continued, with growth in all countries except in Russia and
Poland, where Lindex has closed down stores during the year. Children’s wear
had the best sales growth of all product areas. Euro-denominated sales were up
8.3 per cent, or 9.4 per cent excluding Russia. 

Sales in 2015

The Stockmann Group’s sales for the full year 2015 amounted to EUR 1 563.0
million. Sales in the continuing product and market areas were down by 1.3 per
cent. 

Stockmann Retail's sales in the continuing product and market areas were down
by 4.0 per cent. In Finland, department stores’ sales in the continuing product
areas were down by 3.8 per cent, and in Baltic countries by 4.9 per cent.
Euro-denominated sales in the Russian department stores were down by 25.8 per
cent, mainly due to the weak Russian rouble. 

Lindex sales were up 3.3 per cent at comparable exchange rates, with growth in
all the market areas. Euro-denominated sales were up 0.3 per cent. 

The Group's sales figures include merchandise sales exclusive VAT in stores and
department stores. The figures do not include other operating income such as
rental income or service fees. 

Sales (exclusive of VAT) in December

                           12/2015  Change-     Change-%, continuing product and
                               EUR        %                        market areas*
                             mill.                                              
Stockmann Retail,             72.0    -21.7                                 -6.2
 Finland                                                                        
Stockmann Retail,             25.6    -19.2                                 -1,0
international operations                                                        
Stockmann Retail, total       97.7    -21.0                                 -5.6
Lindex, total                 76.0      8.3                                  9.4
Operations in Finland,        81.2    -24.9                                 -4.2
 total                                                                          
International                 92.6     -3.5                                  7.7
 operations, total                                                              
Stockmann, total             173.7    -10.4                                  1.6




Sales (exclusive of VAT) in January-December

                          1-12/201  Change-     Change-%, continuing product and
                                 5        %                        market areas*
                               EUR                                              
                             mill.                                              
Stockmann Retail,            629.9    -12.4                                 -3.8
 Finland                                                                        
Stockmann Retail,            267.5    -20.2                                 -4.9
international operations                                                        
Stockmann Retail, total      897.4    -14.9                                 -4,0
Lindex, total                649.5      0.3                                  1.3
Operations in Finland,       714.4    -16.5                                 -3.1
 total                                                                          
International                848.6     -9.5                                  0.3
 operations, total                                                              
Stockmann, total           1 563.0    -12.9                                 -1.3


* Exclusive of Russian retail operations, Seppälä, Hobby Hall, Stockmann
Beauty, the airport store and the product areas the company has withdrawn from
in department stores (electronics, books, sports equipment, toys and pet
supplies). 
Change-%: change compared with the corresponding period of the previous year.

Further information:
Lauri Veijalainen, CFO, tel. +358 9 121 5062
Nora Malin, Director, Corporate Communications, tel. +358 9 121 3558

www.stockmanngroup.com


STOCKMANN plc

Per Thelin
CEO


Distribution:
Nasdaq Helsinki
Principal media