Half-year report for January 1 – June 30, 2019

IMPROVED GROUP RESULT AND SIGNIFICANT NEW CONTRACT VOLUMES IN QLIRO FINANCIAL SERVICES

SECOND QUARTER1

• Net sales amounted to SEK 723.9 (807.0) million
  - Qliro Financial Services’ total operating income increased 21 percent
  - CDON Marketplace increased external merchant sales by 60 percent, while net sales decreased in line with the ongoing transition
  - Nelly’s net sales increased 5 percent
• The gross margin increased by 5.6 percentage points to 30.6 (25.0) percent
• Operating profit before depreciation and amortization increased to SEK 23.9 (7.7) million
  - Qliro Financial Services’ operating profit before depreciation increased to SEK 14.5 (5.7) million
  - CDON Marketplace’s gross margin increased by 6.9 percentage points to 19.1 (12.2) percent and its operating profit before depreciation and amortization improved to SEK -3.8 (-11.3) million
  - Nelly’s operating profit before depreciation and amortization amounted to SEK 28.1 (30.2) million
• Operating profit improved to SEK 0.5 (-10.3) million
• Earnings after tax including discontinued operations improved to SEK 0.5 (-91.7) million
• Basic and diluted earnings per share including discontinued operations improved to SEK 0.00 (-0.61)
• Qliro Financial Services entered several new contracts with leading e-commerce merchants. Since the new agreements will not come into effect until the second half of the year, operating profit before depreciation and amortization is estimated to be slightly lower than the financial target for the full-year 2019

FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR1

• Net sales amounted to SEK 1,363.7 (1,523.2) million
• The gross margin increased to 28.1 (22.2) percent
• Operating profit before depreciation and amortization improved to SEK 10.4 (-35.1) million
• Operating profit improved to SEK -33.3 (-69.1) million
• Earnings after tax including discontinued operations amounted to SEK -43.5 (-0.7) million
• Basic and diluted earnings per share including discontinued operations amounted to SEK -0.29 (0.00)
• Cash and cash equivalents amounted to SEK 270.4 (646.3) million by the end of the period

1 Operations are recognized excluding the effects of IFRS 16. Lekmer and HSNG are recognized as discontinued operations in the consolidated accounts.
  

IMPROVED EARNINGS IN THE QUARTER
Gross margin and operating profit, both before and after depreciation and amortization, increased in the second quarter. This was primarily driven by Qliro Financial Services, which continued to expand its loan book and increased its operating profit, and by CDON Marketplace, which significantly increased the share of sales from external merchants and its gross margin. Nelly also continued its profitable growth. The companies advanced their market positions during the quarter.

Three independent companies
Qliro Group’s strategy since June 2018 has been to operate Qliro Financial Services, CDON Marketplace and Nelly as three independent companies. Work is proceeding according to plan, and the companies are now operationally and structurally independent. This creates the best prospects for the companies’ continued growth, and thereby increased shareholder value.  

Group management continues its work to evaluate a number of different potential transactions, for example divestments, separate listings or partnerships for all three subsidiaries. 

Qliro Financial Services increased operating profit but is not estimated to meet the financial target for 2019
Qliro Financial Services increased its loan book by 41 percent in the quarter to over SEK 1.7 billion. The fastest growth was in personal loans, which exceeded SEK 0.5 billion at the end of the period. Total operating income increased by 21 percent while the increase in total operating expenses was limited to 10 percent, which is a testament to the scalability of the business model. Operating profit before depreciation and amortization improved by 154 percent to SEK 14.5 million.

As previously communicated, the financial development is largely dependent on e-commerce volumes and recruitment of new merchants. Since year-end, the company has signed a number of new partnership agreements with merchants that are gradually starting to use Qliro. As the new merchants are connected to the platform, business volumes will increase, driving growth in the loan book and, in turn, generating interest income and thus profitability.  

The business volumes, contracted so far during the year, amounts to more than SEK 1.5 billion on an annual basis, equivalent to approximately one third of Qliro Financial Services’ total volume in 2018. Although the influx of new business volumes exceed expectations, the new volume will only have gradual effect during the second half of the year, i.e. later than previously anticipated. The current assessment is that operating profit before depreciation will be slightly lower than the financial target, i.e. to achieve operating profit before depreciation, amortization and impairment of SEK 100 – 125 million in 2019. Qliro Financial Services is well positioned to continue to benefit from increased e-commerce and new merchants volumes

CDON Marketplace increased sales and gross margin of external merchants
CDON Marketplace increased external merchants sales by 60 percent. Commission income increased by 38 percent, which helped boost gross margin by as much as 7 percentage points to 19 percent. Employee costs have fallen considerably as the company benefits from its continuously improved IT platform and increased share of automation. This led to operating profit before depreciation and amortization increasing to SEK -3.8 (‑11.3) million for the quarter.

CDON Marketplace achieved positive operating profit before depreciation and amortization of SEK 3 million during the past 12 months. This shows that CDON Marketplace’s transition has been successful and that the marketplace model is scalable and profitable.

Nelly continued its profitable growth
Nelly’s net sales increased by 5 percent, despite the fact that the Swedish market has been challenging. Svensk Handel reports that the Swedish general fashion market declined in the quarter. The average shopping basket increased 8 percent during the quarter. Gross profit was SEK 117 million, and operating profit before depreciation and amortization was SEK 28.1 (28.6) million.  

Nelly digitalized its return process during the first half of the year and launched its own brand via Zalando in Europe, with most sales in markets that complement Nelly’s own reach. Nelly has also strengthened its management with Carola Lundell as the new Chief Commercial Officer, Maria Segergren as the new Chief Purchasing Officer and John Afzelius as the new Chief Financial Officer. 

Development re CDON Alandia
CDON’s dormant subsidiary CDON Alandia is since before a party in a tax process that will be reviewed by the Supreme Administrative Court of Finland. A potential loss in this process would not lead to any further cost or cash flow effects. In parallel to the tax process, Finnish prosecutors also prosecuted former employees and board members of CDON and CDON Alandia. Furthermore, Finnish authorities also stated a demand that the prosecuted individuals should pay damages personally. It cannot be ruled out that these individuals might direct claims for compensation against CDON or Qliro Group, corresponding to damages that might potentially be imposed on these individuals. No such claims have been made, but we are following the situation closely.  

Financial flexibility
Qliro Group has a strong financial position. Qliro Financial Services has several sources of future funding and net cash in the e-commerce business totals SEK 212 million. Our companies have strong positions and are a driving force in Nordic e-commerce and related financial services. 

Marcus Lindqvist
President and CEO 
Stockholm, July 12, 2019
  

Conference call
Analysts, investors and the media are invited to a conference call today at 10 a.m. To participate in the conference call, please dial:
Sweden 08 5033 6573
UK +44 330 336 9104
US +1 929 477 0630
PIN code for participation: 537924 

The presentation material and webcast will be published at www.qlirogroup.com. 

For additional information, please visit www.qlirogroup.com or contact:
Marcus Lindqvist, President and Chief Executive Officer
Niclas Lilja, Head of investor relations
Phone: 0736511363
ir@qlirogroup.com 

About Qliro Group
Qliro Group is a leading Nordic e-commerce group in consumer goods, lifestyle products and related financial services. Qliro Group operates CDON.COM, the leading Nordic online marketplace, the fashion brand Nelly.com and Qliro Financial Services, offering financial services to merchants and consumers. In 2018 the Group had sales of SEK 3.2 billion. Qliro Group’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm MidCap segment under the ticker symbol QLRO. 

This information is information that Qliro Group AB is required to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Swedish Securities Market Act. The information was released for publication through the agency of the above-mentioned contacts at 8:00 a.m. CET on Friday, July 12, 2019.

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