Europris produced a strong performance in the second quarter of 2021, despite low sales in April owing to 22 per cent of the chain’s stores being temporarily closed owing to Covid-19 and to the timing of Easter. On average, eight per cent of the stores were temporarily closed during the quarter. Despite following the strongest second quarter in Europris’ history last year, the chain had like-for-like sales growth in both May and June owing to strong execution of campaigns and the season. Strong margin development and continued good cost control offset the sales decline and led to growth in EBITDA and net profit.
“The second quarter was challenging for us owing to pandemic restrictions,” comments Espen Eldal, CEO of Europris. “Nevertheless, we continued to improve operational efficiency and were able to produce a record result.
“In this demanding situation, I am pleased that we were able to create a safe working environment, and that employee satisfaction proved to be at an all-time high. I’m proud of the remarkable enthusiasm and efforts shown by my colleagues during these unpredictable times.
“The acquisition of 67 per cent of Lekekassen will further strengthen our expertise in e-commerce, and we will continue to exploit market opportunities. I believe we are well prepared and positioned to continue being a market winner.”
Group sales came to NOK 2,096 million, down by 5.2 per cent from the same period of last year. Sales were negatively affected by temporary store closures and by the timing of Easter, which hit sales of chocolate and snacks. The upgraded kitchen and home and interior categories continued to perform well. In addition, sales growth was strong for pet food and accessories as well as for spring and summer seasonal items.
Gross profit came to NOK 989 million (NOK 941 million), an improvement of 5.1 per cent. The gross margin was 47.2 per cent (42.6 per cent), up by 4.6 percentage points. A net unrealised currency gain of NOK 24 million was recognised on hedging contracts and accounts payable (loss of NOK 30 million).
Operating expenditure (Opex) was NOK 453 million (NOK 459 million), a decrease of NOK 6 million. Opex as a proportion of revenues amounted to 21.6 per cent (20.8 per cent).
EBITDA was NOK 537 million (NOK 482 million), up by NOK 54 million or 11.3 per cent, and net profit came to NOK 283 million (NOK 247 million), an improvement of NOK 36 million or 14.7 per cent. Europris has a strong financial position and cash and liquidity reserves for the group at 30 June 2021 amounted to NOK 1,577 million (NOK 1,315 million). A total dividend of NOK 434 million was paid in the second quarter, up by NOK 111 million from last year.
The quarterly report, presentation materials and spreadsheet with key figures are available on the group's website at https://investor.europris.no.
CEO Espen Eldal and CFO Stina C Byre will present the group's results at 09:00 CEST via webcast. The presentation will be held without physical participants. It will be held in English, transmitted as a live webcast, and available through the group's website at https://investor.europris.no. It will be possible to ask questions via the web.
For further information, please contact:
Espen Eldal, CEO, +47 48 29 24 24, espen.eldal@europris.no
Stina C Byre, CFO, +47 41 10 58 08, stina.byre@europris.no
About Europris:
Europris is Norway's largest discount variety retailer by sales. The group offers customers a broad range of quality own brands and brand-name merchandise. Its merchandise is sold through the Europris chain, which consists of a network of 268 stores throughout Norway, 240 of which are directly owned by the group and 28 of which operate as franchise stores. The group's headquarters are located in Fredrikstad, Norway.
This information is subject of the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5 -12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.