Fiskars Half-year financial report for January-June 2023
Fiskars Corporation
Half-year financial report
July 20, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. (EEST)
Fiskars Half-year financial report for January-June 2023
Sales and EBIT declined in a challenging operating environment, focus on cash flow delivered results
This release is a summary of the Fiskars Corporation’s Half-year Financial report Report for January-June 2023 published today. The complete Half-year Financial Report with tables is attached to this release as a pdf-file. It is also available at http://fiskarsgroup.com/investors/reports-presentations/interim-reports and on the company website at www.fiskarsgroup.com. Investors should not rely on summaries of financial reports only, but should review the complete reports with tables.
April-June 2023 in brief
- Comparable net sales1 decreased by 12.7% to EUR 267.9 million (Q2 2022: 306.7). Reported net sales decreased by 16.0% to EUR 267.9 million (319.1)
- Comparable EBIT2 decreased to EUR 23.4 million (36.3), or 8.7% (11.4%) of net sales. EBIT decreased to EUR 22.2 million (39.5)
- Cash flow from operating activities before financial items and taxes increased to EUR 56.1 million (16.0)
- Free cash flow increased to EUR 41.6 million (-3.1)
- Earnings per share (EPS) were EUR 0.16 (0.41)
January-June 2023 in brief:
- Comparable net sales1 decreased by 13.1% to EUR 542.8 million (Q1-Q2 2022: 624.3). Reported net sales decreased by 16.7% to EUR 542.8 million (651.7)
- Comparable EBIT2 decreased to EUR 54.7 million (88.1), or 10.1% (13.5%) of net sales. EBIT decreased to EUR 51.2 million (80.9)
- Cash flow from operating activities before financial items and taxes increased to EUR 78.2 million (-39.9)
- Free cash flow increased to EUR 54.5 million (-73.0)
- Earnings per share (EPS) were EUR 0.41 (0.79)
1) Comparable net sales excludes the impact of exchange rates, acquisitions and divestments
2) Items affecting comparability in EBIT include items such as restructuring costs, impairment or provisions charges and releases, integration-related costs, and gains and losses from the sale of businesses
Guidance for 2023 (updated on July 5, 2023):
Fiskars expects comparable EBIT to be in the range of EUR 120-130 million (2022: EUR 151.0 million).
Assumptions behind the guidance:
The market environment remains volatile, and there is limited visibility. Fiskars expects that low consumer confidence in the company's main markets, together with retailers' emphasis on inventory management, will negatively affect demand and sales in the second half of the year.
Fiskars has announced targeted organizational changes, which are expected to result in savings supporting the company’s EBIT from the second half onward.
Whilst the company remains focused on prudent cost management, it also continues to invest in key strategic building blocks.
President and CEO, Fiskars Group, Nathalie Ahlström:
In line with our expectations, challenging market conditions and a weak demand environment continued to affect our business in the second quarter, resulting in a significant drop in volumes. Consequently, our comparable net sales declined by 13% and comparable EBIT declined to EUR 23 million. While we cannot be pleased with this development, we did see a clear improvement in our gross margin, which will be a positive engine once volumes recover. Another highlight was business area Crea’s all-time high second quarter profit, demonstrating the importance and power of our broad-based portfolio. Additionally, our free cash flow improved significantly as a result of our continued actions to adjust supply volumes.
We are not currently seeing meaningful signs of improving market conditions in the second half of the year. Low consumer confidence in our main markets, as well as retailers’ focus on inventory management, will affect demand and sales more negatively than previously anticipated. As a result, we lowered our guidance for the full year 2023 in the beginning of July. We now expect comparable EBIT to be in the range of EUR 120-130 million in 2023. Savings from previously announced organizational changes are expected to support EBIT in the second half, and we also remain focused on prudent cost management.
In this environment, having a crystal-clear Growth Strategy is more essential than ever, and it sets the framework for the choices we make. We continue to invest in the key strategic building blocks to ensure our long-term competitiveness. Looking at the first half of the year, we saw good progress in three of the strategy’s transformation levers: commercial excellence; direct-to-consumer (DTC); and China. Our like-for-like gross margin, which is our key performance indicator for commercial excellence, increased by 160 basis points in January-June. DTC sales increased by 6%, amounting to 21% of the Group’s sales, with good development in several key markets. In China, sales increased by 30%, with strong sales growth since February. In the U.S., which is the fourth transformation lever, our net sales decreased by 18% in January-June as retailers’ focus on inventory management continued to affect demand.
In terms of sustainability, we set our fifth ESG target measuring our employees’ inclusion experience. We want to build an inclusive, fair, and open working environment, in which everyone feels heard, and their uniqueness is celebrated. The target is to be within the global top 10% of high-performing companies in terms of inclusion experience. We still have work to do to reach our target, but we are on the right track.
In June, we started the first enrollment period for Fiskars Group’s employee share savings plan “MyFiskars”, which was launched earlier this year. The aim of MyFiskars is to offer employees the opportunity to acquire and own Fiskars shares, thereby creating a stronger culture of ownership and entrepreneurship, as well as to further strengthen our employees’ long-term commitment to the company. It is great to see that already close to 13% of all our employees globally and 30% of office employees have signed up in the first enrollment period. I warmly welcome our new shareholders.
Our brands had some exciting launches during the quarter. Moomin Arabia introduced a new product category by entering to home with bedroom and bathroom textiles. Wedgwood launched its new creative vision, which connects the heritage of the brand to the innovative thinking of its founder Josiah Wedgwood. The creative vision is all about pushing boundaries with design and being an innovator in the tableware category.
In the second half of the year, we will focus on profit and cash protection. Although the near-term market conditions remain challenging, I am confident that our Growth Strategy and the actions we have been taking will continue to bear fruit.
Group key figures
| EUR million (unless otherwise noted) | Q2 2023 | Q2 2022 | Change | Q1-Q2 2023 | Q1-Q2 2022 | Change | 2022 |
| Net sales | 267.9 | 319.1 | -16.0% | 542.8 | 651.7 | -16.7% | 1,248.4 |
| Comparable net sales1) | 267.9 | 306.7 | -12.7% | 542.8 | 624.3 | -13.1% | 1,248.4 |
| EBIT | 22.2 | 39.5 | -43.7% | 51.2 | 80.9 | -36.8% | 134.7 |
| Items affecting comparability in EBIT2) | 1.2 | -3.2 | 3.5 | 7.2 | -50.7% | 16.3 | |
| Comparable EBIT3) | 23.4 | 36.3 | -35.5% | 54.7 | 88.1 | -37.9% | 151.0 |
| Comparable EBIT margin | 8.7% | 11.4% | 10.1% | 13.5% | 12.1% | ||
| Profit before taxes | 16.6 | 39.3 | -57.8% | 42.9 | 81.9 | -47.6% | 124.1 |
| Profit for the period | 12.6 | 33.5 | -62.4% | 33.1 | 64.9 | -49.0% | 99.1 |
| Earnings per share, EUR | 0.16 | 0.41 | -62.0% | 0.41 | 0.79 | -48.6% | 1.21 |
| Equity per share, EUR | 9.71 | 10.04 | -3.2% | 10.32 | |||
| Cash flow from operating activities before financial items and taxes | 56.1 | 16.0 | 78.2 | -39.9 | -24.9 | ||
| Free cash flow | 41.6 | -3.1 | 54.5 | -73.0 | -100.7 | ||
| Net debt | 342.2 | 221.7 | 54.4% | 325.3 | |||
| Net Debt/EBITDA (LTM), ratio | 2.08 | 1.11 | 88.2% | 1.66 | |||
| Equity ratio, % | 53% | 52% | 53% | ||||
| Net gearing, % | 43% | 27% | 39% | ||||
| Capital expenditure | 10.2 | 13.5 | -24.3% | 20.3 | 22.9 | -11.3% | 48.1 |
| Personnel (FTE), average | 5,945 | 6,335 | -6.1% | 5,985 | 6,250 | -4.2% | 6,273 |
1) Comparable net sales exclude the impact of exchange rates, acquisitions and divestments.
2) In Q2 2023, items affecting comparability were mainly related to organizational changes.
3) EBIT excluding items affecting comparability. Comparable EBIT is not adjusted to exclude the full impact of acquisitions/divestments/disposals
FISKARS CORPORATION
Nathalie Ahlström
President and CEO
Webcast
A webcast on the second quarter results will be held on July 20, 2023 at 11:00 a.m.(EEST). It will be held in English and can be followed at https://fiskars.videosync.fi/q2-2023-results
Presentation materials will be available at www.fiskarsgroup.com.
An on-demand version of the webcast will be available on the company website. Personal details gathered during the event will not be used for any other purpose.
Media and investor contacts:
Essi Lipponen, Director, Investor Relations, tel. +358 40 829 1192
Fiskars Group in brief
Fiskars Group (FSKRS, Nasdaq Helsinki) is the global home of design-driven brands for indoor and outdoor living. Our brands include Fiskars, Gerber, Iittala, Royal Copenhagen, Moomin Arabia, Waterford, and Wedgwood. Our brands are present in more than 100 countries and we have approximately 350 own stores. We have close to 7,000 employees and our global net sales in 2022 were EUR 1.2 billion.
We are driven by our common purpose: Pioneering design to make the everyday extraordinary. Since 1649, we have designed products of timeless, purposeful, and functional beauty, while driving innovation and sustainable growth.
Read more: fiskarsgroup.com