KappAhl half-yearly report 2014/2015: Continued stable trend


+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|                        |Second quarter (Dec–Feb)  |Half year   (Sept-Feb)    |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|                        |2014/2015|2013/2014|Change|2014/2015|2013/2014|Change|
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Net sales, SEK million  |1 133    |1 114    |19    |2 307    |2 357    |-50   |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Operating profit, SEK   |9        |3        |6     |104      |102      |2     |
|million                 |         |         |      |         |         |      |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Gross margin %          |57.8     |57,7     |0,1   |60.6     |60,7     |-0,1  |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Operating margin, %     |0.8      |0,3      |0,5   |4.5      |4,3      |0,2   |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Profit after tax, SEK   |-3       |-7       |4     |58       |55       |3     |
|million                 |         |         |      |         |         |      |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Earnings per share after|-0.04    |-0,09    |0.05  |0.77     |0.73     |0,04  |
|dilution, SEK (Note   1)|         |         |      |         |         |      |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+
|Cash flow from operating|95       |-51      |146   |163      |74       |89    |
|activities, SEK million |         |         |      |         |         |      |
+------------------------+---------+---------+------+---------+---------+------+

  · Good Christmas sales and a well-implemented discount strategy meant that net
sales increased by 1.7% in the quarter.
  · The operative cash flow continues its positive trend
  · Going for the fast roll-out of the new store concept doubled the rate of
investment.
  · At the close of 2014, according to GfK Fashion Scope, KappAhl had a market
share in Sweden of 7.0 (6.9)%, second among the large chains
  · The operating margin over the rolling 12 months was 6.3 (5.0) %.

“Sales in the second quarter increased by 1.7% compared with the previous year
and the gross margin was stable, 57.8 (57.7)%. With good Christmas sales and a
well-implemented discount strategy inventories are at satisfactory levels and
the operative cash flow is continuing its positive trend...”

Johan Åberg, President and CEO.
Read the full CEO statement in the enclosed report or on
KappAhl.com (http://www.kappahl.com/en-US/about-kappahl/investor
-relations/reports--presentations/).

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
please call + 44 203 428 1410 about 5 minutes before the start.

The information in this interim report is disclosed by KappAhl AB (publ)
pursuant to the Securities Market Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading
Act. The information was submitted for publication on 16 April 2015 at 07.30.
For further information
Johan Åberg, President and CEO, phone +46 706 09 99 73, johan.aberg@kappahl.com
Anders Düring, Chief Financial Officer, 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
KappAhl was founded in 1953 and is a leading fashion chain in the Nordic region
with nearly 400 stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Poland together with Shop
Online. KappAhl offers good-value fashion of its own design to a wide range of
consumers – women, men and children – with a particular focus on women in the
mid-life age range. 24% of the range is sustainability labelled. In 2013/2014,
the turnover was SEK 4.7 billion and the number of employees approx. 4,000.
KappAhl is quoted on NASDAQ Stockholm. For more information, please visit
www.kappahl.com.

Attachments

04155575.pdf