Stockmann: In December, the Swedish clothing market was at the level of the comparison period

Translation: Original comment published in Finnish on 1/11/2024 at 8:45 am EET

The December figures for the Swedish clothing market were published this morning. Comparison figures to 2019 levels are no longer published, but the comparison figure for December 2022 (vs. 2019) was 2%, so December 2023 sales were slightly above pre-pandemic levels, although we believe this was due to price increases. Market growth for the whole year 2023 was good 2%.

Source: Svensk Handel *Inderes’ estimate

Sweden accounts for more than half of Lindex’s sales

Sweden is Lindex's largest market and generates more than half of Lindex's sales. Our forecast for Lindex’s Q4’23 revenue is 2% growth in local currencies, of which the actual growth in Q4 in the Swedish market is 1%. The development of SEK and NOK, which together account for around 70% of Lindex's sales, also affect the company’s figures. In our forecasts, the negative impact of FX rates is around 4 % and thus our current forecast for Q4 revenue in EUR is a 2% decline. The sluggish development of the Swedish market toward the end of the year brings marginal negative risk to our Q4 forecast.