Clas Ohlson: Interim Report 1 May 2010 – 31 January 2011

Third quarter

*  Sales totalled SEK 1,906 M (1,817), up 5%

    Sales growth in local currencies was 10%

*  Operating profit amounted to SEK 270 M (290), down 7%

*  Profit after tax totalled SEK 194 M (214), down 9%

*  Earnings per share amounted to SEK 3.05 (3.32), down 8%

Nine months

*  Sales totalled SEK 4,664 M (4,478), up 4%

*  Operating profit amounted to SEK 504 M (576), down 13%

*  Profit after tax totalled SEK 364 M (420), down 13%

*  Earnings per share amounted to SEK 5.71 (6.53), down 13%

Events after the end of the reporting period

*  Sales in February amounted to SEK 383 M (354), up 8%. The sales growth in local currencies was up 14%.

CEO Klas Balkow comments:

“We continue to grow and our sales in local currencies rose 10 per cent during the quarter but were impacted strongly by negative exchange-rate effects on both sales and earnings. Although Clas Ohlson has a favourable development trend, with healthy profitability in our home markets, our profitability was affected by exchange-rate fluctuations, in addition to market investments in the UK.

While we see continued potential for expansion in our home markets, we are simultaneously adapting our expansion rate in the UK to the current market conditions. During the coming 2011/12 financial year, we plan to open 17-22 new stores, including 1-4 stores in the UK.

“The fourth quarter has started favourably, with sales in local currencies rising 14 per cent. Our new spring catalogue will be launched at the end of March and feature more than 1,000 new products.”

Analyst and media conference

An analyst and media conference will be held today, Wednesday 9 March at 10 a.m. (CET). For participation, please visit www.financialhearings.com

For more information, please contact:

Klas Balkow, CEO and President, Clas Ohlson AB: +46 (0)247-447 55

John Womack, Director of Information and IR, Clas Ohlson AB: +46 (0)247-444 05

Clas Ohlson AB is a Swedish chain store that sells, amongst other things, hardware, electrical, multimedia, and home and leisure products. It is the largest hardware chain in Scandinavia. The company was founded in 1918 by the technically-minded Clas Ohlson (1895–1979), as a mail order business based in the Swedish village of Insjön, Dalarna. Initially, only manuals and technical literature were sold. He opened his first shop in Insjön in 1926 and there are now stores throughout Sweden, as well as in Norway and Finland. In 2008, the company opened its first store in the United Kingdom, in Croydon, south London. There are now stores at the Arndale Centre in Manchester, at The Harlequin in Watford, in Kingston upon Thames, Reading, Liverpool, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff, Doncaster and Norwich.

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