Duell Oyj ($DUELL)

Good morning, and welcome to Duell's First Half 2026 Financial Report Webcast. We have today here presenting the report, Tomi Virtanen, CEO; and Caj Malmsten, CFO. And my name is Pellervo Hamalainen from Investor Relations. During the webcast, there's opportunity to send questions in Finnish and English via chat. And at the end of the webcast, we come back with the questions-and-answer session. So I think we are ready to move on. So gentlemen, stage is yours.

Thank you, Pellervo. Happy to be here. As said, my name is Tomi Virtanen. I'm the new CEO of Duell Corporation. And good morning, everybody. So second quarter was very challenging in terms of the market conditions as it has been before, but the headwind clearly continued during the second quarter, which is our true winter season. And that means that traditionally, the majority of the business is happening in Nordics in a snow segment. So when we look at our financials, the net sales and profitability were both below the previous year level. However, we improved in net working capital management, so less inventories. When we look at the markets and product categories, the market uncertainty continued and particularly the weak consumer confidence due to the geopolitical situation was clearly visible in our business. Also, the negative impact of France situation, i.e., the brand portfolio changes that have happened before are burdening our result. We did some operational efficiency activities, including the warehouse consolidations in Nordics and France successfully. So if you look at the operational highlights for the second quarter, as said, we consolidated the warehouses. Now the total number of warehouses is 5, where we can efficiently serve our customer base in our target markets. So we have 1 in Finland instead of 2, what we used to have. We have 1 in Sweden, 1 in France, where we used to have 2 warehouses. And we have one in U.K. and 1 in Netherlands. So basically, from these warehouses, we can serve our customers all over the Europe. On the brand side, we successfully signed the contract with the Quad Lock, which is, of course, a sign of our trustworthiness as a partner and our capabilities in Nordics. So in Finland, Sweden and Norway, Quad Lock is a new member in our portfolio, and we highly appreciate the trust that Quad Lock has given us to address these markets. In the beginning of the year, there are motorcycle fairs, and we saw some slightly higher consumer activity there. And now when the summer season is approaching, we are seeing some reinvigorating behavior in this domain. However, of course, overall, the motorcycle park remains where it has been. Also, our U.K. operations continue to deliver good results, both in terms of the top line and the profitability. So looking at the key figures in second quarter, clearly, a weaker performance that we were expecting due to the challenging market conditions. We see the year-on-year net sales development declining, EUR 0.5 million, so now being EUR 28.8 million. And on a gross margin side, we also see a decline which is partly explained by the situation with the winter, i.e., the snow category, where we tend to have a better gross margin level. So the product mix is clearly impacting the profitability and of course, the challenges related to France and brand portfolio there. So the adjusted EBITDA, EUR 0.4 million, down from last year, EUR 1.1 million and adjusted EBITDA margin 1.2% from 3.9% year-on-year. And looking at the first half result as a whole, the net sales is clearly down as well as the gross margin and EBITDA as well with the previous mentioned reasons. Net debt is clearly lower than it used to be, which is, of course, the positive news. So EUR 25.5 million compared to the last year, EUR 29.3 million. Leverage being 5.4 and net cash flow from operating activities, minus EUR 4.1 million. And with this, I'll let Caj to explain more about the financials.

Thank you, Tomi. So let me open up a little bit more on the numbers, starting from the revenue side. As you all remember, we had a very weak quarter 1. Quarter 2, a little bit better, but we could not catch the gap we created from quarter 1. So the gap increased a little bit. So on half year results, we are 6.6% down. And as Tomi said, here, we have the main parts are coming from the decline in France sales and weak winter and also, in general, rather soft demand. Looking then at the split, where do we sell. So we can see it's pretty stable compared to last year, independently whether we look on the quarter 2 alone or half year results. So 51%, 49%, 51% to Nordics, 49% to Central Europe, so pretty stable. And here, we also have -- can see the own brand sales for the second quarter, 21% compared to 20% and for the half year, a little bit bigger, 23%. But if we look then own brand sales in terms of euros, it's more or less same level as in the past, it's only increasing when the total sales is less than a year ago. And as we before had in the previous sessions also had said that the online sales is slowly growing. And we can see now for the half year, about 30%, 31%. So all in all, Q2, a little bit better, but still a long way to go, far behind our expectations. This, of course, gives a direct impact on the profitability with lower sales, also the adjusted EBITDA goes down. So for the quarter, EUR 0.4 million or 69% down compared to a year back, where we had EUR 1.1 million. And also with the weak quarter 1, we now just on the half year level are slightly positive, EUR 0.2 million, which -- where we have a big delta to last year, where we had EUR 1.8 million. So a lot, lot less. And here, we can start from the gross margin. We have a lower gross margin now. And I would say we have a few components here. We have, as written had product mix with a weaker winter, it's filled up with other types of products and also a combination then of sell-out of winter products towards end of the quarter 2, so bringing the margin levels down. On the OpEx side, when we compare it to sales, we see an increase from last year, both on the quarter 2 and half year and looking at the percentage, it's increased due to the fact that we have lower sales. But looking on a broader perspective here, we have taken the actions with the warehouses moved in France. And now we finally got completed the Tampere move in Finland in March. So in these figures, only a small portion can sold for far be seen in the numbers. The improvement should start to come from going forward from this moment on. So this gives, as I said, weak profitability. What then we can be more happy with is the improvement on the net working capital. We have put a lot of efforts in improving the net working capital, and we are putting a lot going forward also. And here, we can see, especially, I would say, on the big component, the inventory side, we managed to get it down to EUR 49.4 million compared to EUR 50 million, EUR 50.2 million a year back. And it's not a huge decrease, but taking into consideration the weak winter season we had, which naturally leave a little bit left in stock, which a normal winter should have taken care of. But not only on the inventory side, we have good development also on the other components, receivables. Here, we are improving all the time, the, so to say, credit management activities and so in order to improve that part of the net working capital. Then on the payables side, the work continues, as I said that improving slowly but surely payment -- supplier payment terms. So all in all, EUR 4.3 million improvement compared to a year back. Still, we have then due to the lower sales, the inventory to LTM sales goes up to 40%, where we have clear targets and plans to take it down and come closer to 35%, 30% somewhere in the future. Then on the financial position, with a weak result, we pretty fast get an increased leverage level, so increased to [ EUR 5.4 million ] compared to 4 a year back. But if we open up this a little bit, so as I said, the big component affecting is the lower profitability, but debt repayments continued as planned. So we are paying back the loans. We have an improved cash flow profile, still minus EUR 4.1 million, but it's a EUR 5 million improvement compared to last year. And here, the main component is the improved net working capital. And we have to keep in mind that this point of the year, we have, so to say, the biggest burden to our balance sheet with summer products coming in to be delivered then quarter 3, quarter 4. So heavy burden on balance sheet can also be seen in the net cash reserves, EUR 0.9 million. But on the other hand, we have an unused RCF facility of around EUR 10 million. So improvements needed, but still working -- net working capital improvements helps a lot here. So with this, I give back to you, Tomi.

Thank you, Caj. And based on what we presented as well as the heavy work that we have done in terms of the scenarios, how this fiscal year ending by end of August is looking like, we are adjusting our guidance. We need to remember that we have already earlier indicated the challenges in France. And now it's obvious that for fiscal year, the situation is even more critical than we earlier expected. So the new guidance for the financial year of '26 is that the consumer sentiment remains fragile and uncertainty persists in the market. We expect that the market environment remains suppressed during 2026 financial year. And our performance in France continues to be weak during this period as well as the Nordic winter season sales was low. Therefore, we expect the organic net sales to be around EUR 150 million, and we expect the adjusted EBITDA to be around EUR 2 million. In addition, we are reengineering of our supply chain operations, including inventory optimization, inventory cleanups as well. And this will have a nonrecurring negative impact EUR 2 million to EUR 3 million on the full year's result. But what is the way going forward? That is the most important thing. In a shorter term, we have decided 3 important focus areas where we will have a major impact as soon as possible. So first of all, our home market in Nordics, even though the market remains flat, we believe that we can strengthen our market position, particularly growing in Norway and in bicycle category in Sweden. We have very good brands. We are introducing new brands. We have an impeccable product management and sales organization, knowing our customers very well and capable to serve the customers all the way to the demand. Moving the bicycle warehouse from Tampere, partly to Mustasaari and partly to Tranas will enable better availability, shorter delivery times in Sweden as well. Then going to the France. We are restoring the profitable growth in France. By end of March, Jean-Marc Othman started as a new General Manager for Duell Brands. Jean-Marc is bringing decades of experience in this business and very good understanding of the customer demand and the customer perception in French market. We are strengthening the brand portfolio in France. Very soon, we are going to publish good news regarding the new brand elements in France. And Jean-Marc is putting the whole team to work together under his leadership with a very focused sales plan and concentrating where we are the best, i.e., serving our customers. On our third topic, we are strengthening the financial position. Even more with the net working capital management and positive cash flow. What does it mean in practice? So as Caj already indicated, we have reduced our inventories. We continue to doing so. So not only the warehouse locations, but the inventory levels. And the way to do so is that we are seeking for the sources closer to our main markets. So with our very rich brand portfolio, many of our brands are having the capability not only to deliver from the Far East, but also in Europe. And when we are selecting then the choice in closer to our market, we can ensure that the lead time is shorter, and this enables that we can go with the smaller lot sizes and more frequent replenishing. As we are in a very seasonal business, the very important thing is the timing. So we need to be very good in timing so that the purchases, the deliveries inbound are coming exactly on the right time. So before the season start, before the customers need the goods, but not too much far ahead. So the timing and the rhythm of the purchasing is absolutely mandatory thing for our success. We are also taking, as mentioned, when reengineering the supply chain, these once-off activities of cleaning all the places from the obsolete material and also rigorously looking for the slow moving items. Partly, we need to also divest the portfolio for the items that are not profitable and also then, of course, taking the activities on the sales side that we -- everything what we have in our portfolio is actually moving. These are the key things we believe that will help, particularly when we are approaching the next fiscal year starting in September. We need to understand coming back to our guidance that, for example, these activities related to France, they will take some time even though we have an excellent new General Manager now on board. And as a reminder of our business, we are here to serve our customers. We have a very rich portfolio. I believe that in our target markets, we have the best possible offering for our customers. We have in-depth knowledge with our organization, with our product management and salespeople, a lot of that with decades of experience, that knowledge about the products that our customers cannot get anywhere else than from us. And we are ready to serve, and we are serving our customers up to our best capacity and also being the one-stop shop in most of the cases, so they can really get a very enriched portfolio from us. And we are very proud of our brands that we are representing and everything what we are doing is with a good cooperation with the brands and of course, the ultimate goal to serve our customers. So as a summary, the market uncertainty and weak consumer confidence is continuing. due to the geopolitical factors and the global climate change and many other things that we cannot influence. And we are not concentrating on those. We are concentrating on the things that we can change. In the past, we have seen now this brand portfolio changes in France negatively contributing to our financials. But now we are putting things back on track. We are strengthening our market position in Nordics. We are restoring our profitable growth in France, and we are improving our net working capital management and cash flow.

Thank you. Very good. We are ready now then to move to the questions-and-answer session. So I think we could start from the markets, divide the Central Europe or Europe and the Nordics. How do you see that we have managed in the Nordic countries? Have we maintained our market share? Or has there been more competition? And how do you see is there some pressure?

So of course, in a healthy market, there is always competition and competition is always increasing, no question about it. How do we see is that the market is relatively flat, i.e., that overall demand is not increasing. But of course, there are new players coming into the market, new brands, and we need to be every day better to serve our customers in order that we can keep our market position. All in all, we believe that we have sustained our position here. And with the obvious reasons what I mentioned earlier, we believe that we continue to do so in the future as well.

What about the European countries? Of course, they are different markets and there are different dynamics. So of course, we have talked a lot about France, but let's say, about the other countries, how is it going?

So in U.K., we have very sustainable performance. I'm very proud of our British team and I salute the good work that have been done consistently there, both in terms of the top line and profitability. And I strongly believe it continues growing. Also a challenging market, but I believe that we can gain market share. Looking then -- as I said, I believe that we have touched France already a lot. And then looking for the Central Europe. So in -- from the Netherlands warehouse we are serving, Benelux countries, Germany, Eastern Europe, the growth we are seeing is mainly in Eastern Europe. For example, the motorcycle park in Poland is growing, unlike in most of the European countries. And of course, we believe that we can grow with the market, but also that in certain segments that we can grow faster than the market, and that's part of our strategy as well.

Okay. Good. So now when we -- let's say, our biggest quarters already ongoing here. So have we already got the products in and products out for the customers? Or are there delays like we had last year?

So the situation in that sense is very good. We have done record days in our picking and packing in our Tranas and Mustasaari warehouses. And that, of course, is mandatory in order to serve the customers. We all know that the season started in Nordics early in March for the summer products. So I've seen motorcycles going on the roads already in early March, not only in the capital area, but also elsewhere in Finland. And that is, of course, a good thing, and we believe that we have a good chance for making a good season.

Okay. I think we could still come back to the France operations. So how confident you are that we are kind of rebuilding the case again? And have we lost a lot of market share? And is it only due to the brand changes?

So that is a fact that we have lost market share, and that cannot be changed. I'm 100% confident that with the new leadership with Jean-Marc Othman, we will gain a lot back and very soon. Partly, the explanation is related with the brands we lost, but partly it's also how to organize and keep the momentum, the clock speed of the whole organization in the things that matters the most, i.e., serving our customers, doing the sales activities, giving the right support. And I've already witnessed with my own eyes the change now when Jean-Marc started, and I'm confident that this will bring us a beautiful journey in France. However, we need to keep in mind that things take a little bit time. So talking about this fiscal year, which is already ending in August, we need to be realistic what can be achieved still this fiscal year and what goes beyond. And I believe that now we are building the success for the future for the remaining part of the year.

Okay. Very good. Then there's a question related to France and, let's say, the negative impact to our profitability. So do we see that the current level is the same to come in the second half? Or could you open it? Of course, we haven't published the exact numbers, but if you could give some color on that one.

Of course, as you said, we have not opened it and we will not really open it neither, but I refer a little bit to what Tomi said here before. This is a little bit also tied to how fast can we get new brands in and turn around, generate sales and so forth. But that we can clearly see that we have seen the worst part of it already.

Okay. Very good. Then about the covenants. We amended the covenants for the Q2. So what is the impact for our financial expenses? And do we see that we can be within the limits in these next quarters?

First, today, expenses, this was a minor change to the covenant. So the impact to the financial also minor. And going forward then to the quarters to come, it's our biggest quarters coming. We know also now that quarter 2 was hard. We had a lot of, so to say, movements everywhere. So we need to get business moving, get sales in, generate margins and so forth, further improve net working capital, then it may be doable. It will be tight, but we believe we can do it.

So do you see that our financing is enough? Or do we need to raise some more money?

For the time being, the finance is enough, and we have to remember here also continuing to reduce the net working capital. We release cash every day to the balance sheet or to the cash situation. So it's enough for running the business.

Do you see that the communicated, let's say, cleaning of the warehouse of inventory, EUR 2 million to EUR 3 million is kind of enough? Or can it be something different?

The best estimate we have for the time being is EUR 2 million to EUR 3 million, and that we will revisit in the quarters to come if the numbers are differing, but that's the best estimate we have for the moment.

Does it kind of cover all the warehouses that we have or some certain areas?

We go through all warehouses we have, so it covers the whole group.

Very good. Then about the financing expenses. So there was a decrease in financing costs in Q2. What was the reason behind that?

We have the main portion of it, of course, if you take, first of all, we are paying down our loans year-by-year. So the real interest expense goes down. But then the big impact in quarter 2 is coming from the exchange rates when loans in foreign currency are reevaluated to the latest date, then the impact, plus or minus ends up on the financial items side. So that's the biggest portion this time.

Okay. Very good. Then about the capital expenses. So you have now -- we are almost at the same level now than for the full year last year. So do you expect that the same run rate is going forward with the second half?

Not the same run rate. We have spent a lot during the first half of the year. And as we have communicated earlier, we are investing a lot on the IT side, especially e-com and the biggest part of the bills are paid already so.

Okay. What is the current situation with the e-commerce plan or implementation in which countries we have those currently?

So e-com is growing everywhere, of course. And we have sort of like electronic ordering payment system within concern corporation a long time already. However, this new e-com platform, we are starting with the Nordic countries and gradually, then we are expanding it to the all of the group countries.

Okay. What about then if we see that the tightening balance position is kind of a bit harder. So does it have some negative impact to our, let's say, operations overall? Daily operations.

You mean the e-com part?

Yes. No, overall.

Overall. So of course, when we look at our business, the building blocks or the cornerstones, they have not changed. What our customers are expecting from us is having a wide and very reputable brand portfolio and that we have. They are expecting us to have very good availability, which we do have and also very competitive prices. And these fundamentals have been in the business, and they are remaining in the business. Of course, all the time, we need to renew our portfolio, not necessarily bringing new brands as such. But of course, within the brands, of course, the portfolio is renewing all the time. And we need to be then, of course, then very clever how we ramp down and ramp up the new products in order that we keep our inventory levels on a sensible level.

Okay. Good. Then about the -- if you have a few words about the guidance. It reflects pretty weak second half. What are the kind of the building blocks that are taking down the performance in the second half?

As I mentioned, overall, the France situation, the situation as it is today was even more severe than we earlier anticipated. And what I explained regarding the corrective actions and measures, which I truly believe are helping a lot, but the time is running out for this fiscal year. So we have only 4.5 months to go. So all of these good things that Jean-Marc and the team are putting together, they will take some time before we will see the financial results. So already then on the first quarter of the next year, I'm much more positive about how the financials will look like.

Very good. Then if we go back to the, let's say, cleaning the inventory. So we're expecting the EUR 2 million to EUR 3 million for nonrecurring costs. So how much of this has cash flow impact?

That's a good question. Of course, when we already have it in stock, it does not have a negative cash impact. It will have, to some extent, a positive cash impact depends on what we can do with the obsolete stock.

Yes. There are a few questions about the same about the, let's say, optimizing the network levels or inventory levels. Could you give some practical examples how we are going to do it? And what are the kind of thing.

As I mentioned, even within the same brand, we, for example, used to take some of the tires from the Far East, and we have switched to using their European warehouses, which enables us to shorter replenishment times, which means smaller lot sizes, smaller inventory levels without jeopardizing availability. So clearly, this is sort of like very basic things in logistics that when you have a shorter replenishment times, you do not need that great crystal ball whether you can forecast the future, but you can react more agile to the existing situation without really jeopardizing the availability. This is just one example. Then, of course, when we look at -- as we are in a seasonal business, and we need to remember that in some cases, we have a very long lead time. We have taken into use some AI tools to improve our capability to utilize the year-on-year demand as well as the existing inventory levels as well as the projected sales as well as the latest input from our sales teams to consolidate to the best possible optimal ordering sizes. So a lot of things to do. Some of them are, I would say, very old-fashioned things, but still very valid and some of are the state-of-the-art new things with the AI, et cetera.

Okay. Very good. I think we have gone through the main questions, and there are many kind of complicated questions. So maybe you could, Tomi still summarize and have the closing words for this first half and let's say, give some light still to remind how we are going to forward.

Thanks, Pellervo. So in a nutshell, disappointing first half, both in terms of the sales and profitability. We are taking the actions in 3 main categories. So we are strengthening our market position in Nordics. We are restoring profitable growth in France under the new leadership. And then we are very strongly focusing on our net working capital and cash flows. And for that, we are absolutely sure that we will get back to the growth path and profitability path, but it will take some time. And therefore, the guidance for the rest of this fiscal year is not more positive than it is at the moment.

Very good. Thank you, Tomi and Caj. And thank you also for the audience participating in this webcast. And we will come back then with the third quarter results on 2nd of July. Thank you very much, and have a nice day.