KappAhl half year report: Improved performance and strengthened margins


“In a market that remains tough KappAhl has continued to strengthen key figures.
We report improved profit for the quarter of SEK 39 million compared with the
previous year, the gross margin is higher and we have sound cost control.”

Johan Åberg, President and CEO. Read the full CEO statement on the report.

+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|                             |Second                |Half year (Sept-Feb)
|
|                             |quarter               |
|
|                             |(Dec–Feb)             |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|                            
|2013/2014|2012/|Change|2013/2014|2012/2013|Change| 

|                             |         |2013 |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Net sales, SEK million       |1 114    |1 148|-34   |2 357    |2 393    |-36
|
|                             |         |     |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Operating profit excluding   |3        |-36  |39    |102      |69       |33
|
|non-recurring items, SEK     |         |     |      |         |         |
|
|million                      |         |     |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Operating profit, SEK million|3        |-36  |39    |102      |145      |-43
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Gross margin, %              |57,7     |55,1 |2,6   |60,7     |59,3     |1,4
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Operating margin excluding   |0,3      |-3,1 |3,4   |4,3      |2,9      |1,4
|
|non-recurring items, %       |         |     |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Profit after tax, SEK million|-7       |-64  |57    |55       |51       |4
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Earnings per share, SEK (Note|-0,09    |-0,85|0,76  |0.73     |0,82     |-0,09
|
|1)                           |         |     |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Cash flow from operating     |-51      |-51  |0     |74       |24       |50
|
|activities, SEK million      |         |     |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+---------+-----+------+---------+---------+-----
-+

  · Net sales decreased by 3.0 per cent for the quarter. The increase in
comparable stores was 0.2 per cent.
  · The gross margin improved by 2.6 percentage points in the quarter.
  · The operating profit for the second quarter is 39 million higher than last
year.
  · The equity/assets ratio increased to 52.4 per cent.

A presentation and telephone conference will be held for analysts, media and
investors today at 9.30 at Operaterrassen in Stockholm. To notify attendance at
Operaterrassen go to www.kappahl.com/presentations, where the webcast will also
be broadcast direct and saved for viewing later. To participate by telephone
call +44 207 660 2077 about 5 minutes before start.
För ytterligare information kontakta
Johan Åberg, President and CEO, phone 46 706-09 99 73, johan.aberg@kappahl.com
Anders Düring, VP and CFO, phone 46 708-88 77 33, anders.during@kappahl.com

Company information and photos
Charlotte Högberg, Head Public Relations, phone 46 704-71 56 31,
charlotte.hogberg@kappahl.com
About KappAhl
KappAhl, founded in 1953, is one of the Nordic region’s leading fashion
retailers with close to 400 stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland, and
Shop Online. KappAhl offers value-for-money fashion of its own design to the
many people – men, women and children, with a special focus on women in the
prime of life. KappAhl was the world’s first fashion retailer to gain
environmental certification in 1999. In 2012/2013, sales were SEK 4.8 billion
and the number of employees approximately 4,500. KappAhl is quoted on Nasdaq OMX
Stockholm. For more information, go to www.kappahl.com.

Attachments

04072112.pdf