Marimekko Corporation announces result from time period from 1 January - 30 September 2013.
In the January-September period of 2013, the Marimekko Group’s net sales grew by 9 percent relative to the same period last year. International sales rose by 20 percent, mainly due to the stores opened in North America and the Asia-Pacific region during the period under review and in 2012. In the July-September period of 2013, the Group’s net sales rose by 3 percent.
Operating profit for the January-September period of 2013 includes EUR 1.5 million in nonrecurring expenses due to arrangements arising from the statutory employer-employee negotiations concluded during the second quarter. Operating profit excluding nonrecurring items in the January-September period was EUR 2.1 million (2.0).
In the July-September period, operating profit was EUR 3.1 million (3.5). Operating profit for the review period was boosted by growth in wholesale sales in the Asia-Pacific region, an improvement in the profitability of company-owned stores in Finland in spite of a fall in comparable sales, and by growth in the company’s textile printing factory’s operating rate as well as enhanced operational efficiency.
In the last quarter of 2013, Marimekko will continue to make moderate investments in growth, concentrating on improving profitability, particularly by enhancing the operations of the stores opened in 2012.
Market outlook and growth targets
General uncertainty in the global economy is forecast to continue, and this may affect consumers’ purchasing behaviour in all of Marimekko’s market areas. The economic prospects for Europe are still gloomy, and growth is slow in the region. However, the economic outlook has taken a slight upturn. In the United States and Asia, economic forecasts are better than in Europe.
In the United States, the growth prospects have, however, slightly weakened in the past months, but in Asia, the economic groth is anticipated to continue stronger than in other regions. In Finland, market conditions are weak, and economic forecasts by trade and industry for the next few months are clearly below normal. Economic conditions are also expected to remain weak, and retail sales are forecast to decline. (Confederation of Finnish Industries EK: Business Tendency Survey, November 2013).
In Finland, consumer confidence continued to deteriorate in the third quarter of the year and the autumn was exceptionally warm. Consequently, the downturn in the comparable sales of Marimekko’s own stores in Finland accelerated. The negative trend of company-owned stores in Finland also continued in October, casting a shadow over prospects in Finland for the end of the year and especially for Christmas trading which is important to Marimekko.
The stores opened in 2012 and other major investments in expanding the distribution network will bring a considerable increase in sales in 2013. The main thrust in expansion this year is on openings of retailer-owned Marimekko stores and shop-in-shops.
The company will also invest in developing the operations of the stores it opened in 2012. Marimekko announced in January that the aim was to open 15 to 24 new stores this year. The number of stores to be opened has been confirmed as 34, of which 6 will be company-owned.
The planned total investments for 2013 of the Marimekko Group are estimated as being in excess of EUR 3 million. Most of the investments are devoted to building new retail facilities and purchases of fittings.
