KappAhl full year report: Strong improvement in operating profit

"KappAhl has delivered a good year... With a more stable and effective
organisation our gross margin is stronger, our cost level is lower and the
equity/assets ratio has improved.”

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

+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|                             |Fourth                |Full year (Sep-Aug)
|
|                             |quarter               |
|
|                             |(Jun                  |
|
|                             |-Aug)                 |
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|                            
|2013/201|2012/2|Change|2013/2014|2012/2013|Change| 

|                             |4       |013   |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Net sales, SEK million       |1,185   |1,148 |37    |4,743    |4,751    |-8
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Operating profit excluding   |92      |57    |35    |295      |202      |93
|
|non-recurring costs, SEK     |        |      |      |         |         |
|
|million                      |        |      |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Operating profit, SEK million|69      |43    |26    |272      |252      |20
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Gross margin, %              |59.3    |57.0  |2.3   |60.8     |59.2     |1.6
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Operating margin excluding   |7.8     |5.0   |2.8   |6.2      |4.3      |1.9
|
|non-recurring items, %       |        |      |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Profit after tax, SEK million|32      |7     |25    |129      |91       |38
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Earnings per share after     |0.42    |0.09  |0.33  |1.71     |1.32     |0.39
|
|dilution, SEK (Note 1)       |        |      |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+
|Cash flow from operating     |0       |15    |-15   |345      |230      |115
|
|activities, SEK million      |        |      |      |         |         |
|
+-----------------------------+--------+------+------+---------+---------+-----
-+

  · Operating profit excluding non-recurring items increased during the quarter
by 62 per cent and for the full year by 46 per cent.
  · Net sales increased by 3.2 per cent for the quarter and decreased by 0.2 per
cent for the full year.
  · Sales in comparable stores increased during the quarter by 2.9 per cent and
for the full year by 0.3 per cent.
  · The gross margin improved by 2.3 per centage points for the quarter and 1.6
per centage points for the full year.
  · Restructuring costs of SEK 23 million relating to the closure of
unprofitable stores in Finland and Poland strain the fourth quarter.
  · The Board of Directors proposes a dividend of SEK 0.75 per share
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

The information in this year-end report is disclosed by KappAhl AB (publ)
pursuant to the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading
Act. The information was released for public disclosure on 9 October 2014 at
07.30.
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. 18% of the range is sustainability labeled. In 2013/2014, sales
were SEK 4.87billion and the number of employees approximately 4,500. KappAhl is
quoted on Nasdaq OMX Stockholm. For more information, go to www.kappahl.com.