Stockmann - Interim report (Q1 and Q3)

Stockmann Group's Interim Report, 1 January - 30 September 2011

Good revenue growth continued; Q3 operating profit somewhat down on Q3 2010

Helsinki, Finland, 2011-10-26 07:00 CEST (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- STOCKMANN plc,
Interim Report 26.10.2011 at 8:00 EET 

July - September 2011:
Consolidated revenue grew by 9.6 per cent to EUR 461.3 million (EUR 420.7
million). 
Operating profit was EUR 15.2 million (EUR 18.4 million).

January - September 2011:
Consolidated revenue grew by 10.8 per cent to EUR 1 379.2 million (EUR 1 245.0
million). 
Operating profit was EUR 10.8 million (EUR 40.2 million).
Profit for the period was EUR -14.4 million (EUR 41.2 million).
Earnings per share came to EUR -0.20 (EUR 0.58).

Outlook for the full year updated on 30 September 2011: Revenue for 2011 is
expected to continue growing. Operating profit for the full year is expected to
decline on 2010. 

CEO Hannu Penttilä:
The Stockmann Group's revenue continued to grow well in the third quarter of
2011. The strongest sales growth was seen in Russia where the new department
store in St Petersburg had a positive impact on Stockmann's revenue. The
Department Store Division's operating result improved in all market areas in
the quarter. 

Lindex has increased its revenue in new markets. In Sweden, the overall fashion
market sales have been down this year and, despite the increase in market
share, Lindex's sales in Sweden was lower than last year. Sales volumes which
fell short of the target level and increased purchasing prices in a competitive
environment affected negatively the earnings of our fashion chains. 

The Group achieved a reasonable operating profit in the third quarter but the
decisive period for full-year earnings performance is yet to come. We have
positive expectations for the final quarter of the year thanks to the excellent
outcome of our Crazy Days campaign. The uncertain market environment has,
however, made forecasting very challenging. In the current circumstances we
expect Stockmann's full-year operating profit to decline on the previous year. 

Outlook for the rest of 2011
Economic growth forecasts for the final months of 2011 have rapidly
deteriorated because of the European debt crisis, and this has also weakened
consumer confidence. Forecasting the consumer purchasing in the last quarter of
the year has become more challenging than before. 

The Russian markets are expected to continue to grow faster than those in the
Nordic countries, although weakening of the rouble may negatively affect
consumer purchasing power and behaviour. The positive growth of the consumer
markets in the Baltic countries is expected to continue. However, higher
inflation will affect consumers' purchasing power in all markets. 

The market for affordable fashion started off more slowly in 2011 compared with
the strong first quarter of 2010. The production capacity problems in the Far
East procurement markets have eased, which means that the autumn deliveries
have taken place on time. Demand in the Swedish market, unlike the other
markets, has remained weak and the performance of the overall fashion market
has clearly declined. It is difficult to estimate demand in Sweden for the rest
of the year but in other markets demand is expected to improve compared with
the weak performance in the final months of 2010. 

The capital expenditure projects of Stockmann's Department Store Division,
completed in autumn 2010 and early 2011, will positively affect revenue in
2011. Several of the department stores in Russia are still in their start-up
phase, however. The positive effect of these investments on the division's
operating profit will only become visible from the last quarter of 2011
onwards. 

The Stockmann Group estimates that its revenue and operating profit will
develop positively in the final quarter of the year, which is a decisive period
for the full-year earnings performance. Revenue for the full year is expected
to continue growing. The Group's 2011 operating profit is expected to decline
on 2010. 

The Group's total capital expenditure in 2011 is estimated to be approximately
EUR 65 million (EUR 165.4 million in 2010) and to remain below the estimated
depreciation for the full year. 

Key figures

                                            7-9/    7-9/    1-9/    1-9/   1-12/
                                            2011    2010    2011    2010    2010
Revenue, EUR mill.                         461.3   420.7  1379.2  1245.0  1821.9
Revenue growth, %                            9.6     8.1    10.8     6.2     7.3
Relative gross margin, %                    49.1    50.0    48.8    50.1    49.9
Operating profit, EUR mill.                 15.2    18.4    10.8    40.2    88.8
Net financial costs, EUR mill.               8.8     6.6    26.3    10.4    14.6
Profit before tax, EUR mill.                 6.4    11.9   -15.5    29.8    74.2
Profit for the period, EUR mill.             5.7    13.4   -14.4    41.2    78.3
Earnings per share, undiluted, EUR          0.08    0.19   -0.20    0.58    1.10
Equity per share, EUR                                      11.42   11.87   12,45
Cash flow from operating activities, EUR   -39.1    -0.3  -113.7   -16.4    91.8
 mill.                                                                          
Capital expenditure, EUR mill.              11.4    34.5    50.4   107.1   165.4
Net gearing, %                                             119.2    98.0    87.7
Equity ratio, %                                             38.6    41.6    43.1
Number of shares, undiluted, weighted                     71 380  71 112  71 120
 average, 1 000 pc
Return on capital employed,                                  3.6     6.7     5.8
rolling 12 months                                                               
Personnel, average                        16 014  15 261  15 879  14 825  15 164

This company announcement is a summary of the Stockmann Group's Interim Report
for January-September 2011 and includes the most relevant information of the
report. The complete report is attached to this release as a pdf file and is
also available on the company's website at www.stockmanngroup.fi. 

Press and analyst briefing and conference call
A press and analyst briefing in Finnish will be held today, on 26 August 2011
at 9.15 a.m. at the F8 Easy 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 26 August 2011 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.fi



STOCKMANN plc

Hannu Penttilä
CEO


Distribution:
NASDAQ OMX
Principal media

Attachments:

Q3 2011 ENG.pdf