Komplett ASA (KOMPL) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Thank you. The first quarter of 2022 was a quarter where Komplett continued to execute on our strategic agenda. We completed the acquisition of NetOnNet, making us the leading consumer electronics online-first player in the Nordics. We also saw the first results from our supply chain and IT program as we implemented the -- a new packaging line in Sandefjord reducing our OpEx and significantly contributing to our sustainability agenda by cutting the use of plastic and transportation of air. It's also a quarter where we see the benefit of our multi-channel business model. We continue to deliver strong growth in both the B2B and the Distribution segments. The B2C segment, though, is a segment where we experienced a much softer market and sales is declining on the back of record growth last year. In sum, our revenue lands in line with last year despite much tougher market conditions in B2C showing the advantages of our multi-segment approach. In addition to a softer market, it's also a quarter where we saw much more aggressive pricing in the market that is impacting our gross margin and in turn impacting our EBIT for the quarter. We maintained solid cost control over the quarter and have a net improvement in our operating costs, solidifying our cost leadership position. Through joining forces with NetOnNet, we're creating the leading consumer electronics player in the Nordics with online as a primary channel. But we're not only building scale. The company will be well positioned for future growth as we target complementing customer groups and an attractive [ cost ] and attractive segments. Our cost leadership position is also sustained as both companies have scalable and efficient operations with superior cost positions also standalone. But the main point I would say is the value creation of synergies that are available to us in the new combined entity. After closing the transaction, we were also able to have a look into the clean room, where our numbers were compared. And what we see is that we can confirm the synergies and we're confident about our ability to realize the more than NOK 200 million of procurement synergies that are available to us. We're also well underway with the integration of the combined entity. As part of that, we've established a new management team. And in the new management team, we've designed it to accommodate to our new operating model. As you can see on the top row, Martin Klafstad, Susanne Holmstrom, and Anders Torell, lead their respective brands, NetOnNet, Komplett and Webhallen. That gives us the -- that gives them the autonomy to develop our customer positions individually further and take out the individual solid parts in each and every one of them. At the bottom row, you see we have Roger Sandberg and Trine-Lise Jensen, who are both dedicated to their individual synergy realization. So we have a dedicated position for both with Roger taking out the procurement synergies and Trine-Lise realizing supply chain, IT synergies over time. In B2C, it's -- we experienced a softer market after a period of unparalleled growth. Just a few quarters ago, we were all -- the whole industry was chasing down products in order to satisfy demand. And just months thereafter, we now see our customers being faced with increased interest rates, inflation and geopolitical uncertainty. These are all factors that negatively affect demand. And in some, we have seen the market contracts over quarter 1. If we go in -- if we dig a bit into the market, you also see that the categories that are restraining growth are categories for game -- typically gaming and computers are -- have a high exposure, making Komplett a bit overexposed to the categories that are restraining the growth for the quarter. Further, it's a quarter where the society has opened up, and we see a shift of spending from goods to services as well as consumers normalizing their spending pattern between online retail and physical retail. So people are to some extent moving more back into physical stores. So we're moving from a market that has been very beneficial in one extreme and maybe a bit to the other extreme, where -- with a lot of factors restraining top-line growth. Despite all this, our best reference is that we're maintaining market shares both in the Norwegian and Swedish market over the quarter. We've -- we do also expect the challenging market conditions to be sustained -- to sustain over the coming quarters. In addition, as the industry comes from -- as said, the industry comes from a period where we were chasing goods to satisfy demand and suddenly find ourselves with much softer demand. And as a result of that both we and Komplett Group and the industry as a whole have high inventory levels. This has resulted in a pressure on pricing as retailers, all retailers in the industry aim to normalize inventory levels again, both in pressure on pricing, but also an increased promotion pressure. This has, of course, impacted margin. We will be working to normalize our inventory levels to make sure we have an attractive product offering readily available for peak season. Looking at our top-line, again, it's a quarter where we see the benefit of our multi-channel business model. In the quarter, we've been up against extraordinary comparables with 31% growth last year as well as a very soft B2C market. But we continue to see solid growth in both B2B and Distribution segment growing with 20% -- growing 20% respectively in each segment. And in some, Komplett Group maintains a stable revenue on top-line on the back of last year's 31% growth. And since 2019, we now have 14% average growth for the quarter. Looking at the margin, as said, the B2C market moved from one extreme to another from being very beneficial with very high demand, which we're all struggling to satisfy to a period of much softer demand. And the shift happens fast and left an industry with relatively high inventory levels. The inventory -- the high inventory levels in combination with a soft market puts pressure on pricing as retailers lower prices to clear out goods and increased -- and has also increased the level of promotions over the quarter. This in turn puts pressure on our gross margin. At the same time, we've experienced a negative currency effect as the Norwegian krone has strengthened itself towards the Swedish and the Danish krone. And in total, we see a negative currency effect of NOK 17 million for the quarter or 0.7 percentage points over gross margin decline. I expect the inventory levels for the industry to normalize again in time for peak season. And as inventory levels normalize, I do also expect a rebound on the gross margin as prices needs to come up both and also to take out the underlying inflation that has been there. In addition, I am confident about the synergy potential that is available to us on gross margin from the acquisition of NetOnNet. We'll spend the time now clearing out -- in the coming quarters, we'll spend the time clearing out our inventory, but we'll also spend the time realizing the synergies to make sure that this is also a period where we continue to improve our competitive advantage. The group's EBIT declines from NOK 93 million to NOK 37 million for the quarter. The key driver of that is volume decline in B2C and gross margin pressure both in B2C and B2B. And in addition, of course, currency effects has a [ NOK 7 million ] negative impact. Also on a more technical note, Ironstone, the acquisition we made last summer is not included in last year's numbers, but are included now. And in total, they contributed negative NOK 6 million, of which NOK 2 million are in IFRS effects. So summing it up, currency and Ironstone effects impact us with [ NOK 23 million ] negatively on our EBIT. We maintained strong cost control for the quarter. If we exclude Ironstone, we have a net reduction in our OpEx despite maintaining the volumes from last year. It's solidifying our cost leader position and it's giving us strong resilience in a period with a tougher market -- and with a tougher market. If we turn our attention to the segments and start with B2C, as said, after a period of unparalleled growth, the B2C segment declined 14.6% over the quarter. The market has rapidly moved from a state with a very high growth to a period where consumers are affected by inflation, increased interest rates and geopolitical uncertainty. In addition to that, the consumers are moving their share of wallet more to buying services from physical goods. And we are also facing a period where physical trade are opening again and consumers are normalizing their spending patterns between physical and online retail. And despite that, we have -- we've maintained our market shares for the quarters both in Norway and Sweden. In addition to the soft market, as said, gross margin declines driven by both increased pricing pressure and increased level of promotions over the quarter as retailers normalize their inventory levels. In sum, our EBIT is down to NOK 6 million for the quarter. The market will continue to be challenging for the coming quarters. But I'm also confident that Komplett Group is well equipped to handle the tougher market outlook. We have the best cost structure and we have significant synergies readily available with NetOnNet, and we will start benefiting from our complementary strengths. In B2B, it's another solid quarter with 20.5% growth. On gross margin, we see a similar dynamic as in the B2C segment with high inventory levels putting pressure on prices, especially in the components segments and as well as negative currency effects impacting us for the quarter. Our EBIT lands at NOK 33 million. However, a NOK 3 million negative impact comes from the currency effect while Ironstone contributes negative NOK 4 million as they are not included in last year's numbers. In the Distribution segment, it's another solid performance also here with 20% growth for the quarter. Margins were put under pressure by negative currency effects. But despite a NOK 4 million negative currency effect, our EBIT grows from NOK 15 million to NOK 17 million for the quarter. I'm now going to hand the word to our CFO, Mr. Krister Pedersen, who will take you through the financials.

Thank you, Lars. As we have seen, we had a decline in sales in the first quarter driven by a tougher B2C market. With stable currency, we would had a growth of 1.5%. And further combined with currency effects, higher price pressure resulted in lower gross margin. On the positive side, we started early in the quarter to reduce costs as we saw how the revenue developed. With this, we remain the cost base at 10.4%, which is in level with last year, even including Ironstone in the figures. Ironstone increased the cost for the group by around NOK 10 million including IFRS effects. Adjusted for Ironstone, the total operating expenses was reduced by NOK 9 million. The one-off costs of NOK 18 million is related to the NetOnNet transaction and expect additional NOK 25 million to NOK 30 million in the coming quarter. Financial costs increased to NOK 9 million from NOK 4 million for last year, the increase is mainly driven by higher average utilization of credit facilities. On tax cost, we had a tax income last year related to a settlement with the Norwegian and Swedish tax authorities, which we didn't have this year. On the cash flow side, we succeeded to reduce the inventory by NOK 230 million - NOK 223 million compared to an increase of NOK 130 million last year. Included here is a significant reduction in purchase of goods. With this, the accounts payable decreased by NOK 451 million, which is the main driver of the negative cash flow from the operating activities of NOK 158 million. The most important thing here to -- the most important takeaway is the reduction in inventories, but still the inventory is too high, and we are aiming to reduce even more in the second quarter. On the CapEx side, the most -- the single most important element is the packing line, which is good for both the environment and the efficiency at the central warehouse in Sandefjord. As mentioned, the inventory is still high, too high and an additional accounts payable is too low. With this, the available liquidity is reduced by around NOK 100 million. The leverage ratio has increased from 0.5% last year to 2.2%, the first quarter this year. The increase is due to a change in net working capital and the dividend of NOK 400 million given in June last year. Before handing the word back to you, Lars, in the appendix, you will find the pro forma figures for NetOnNet and Komplett combined for the first quarter in 2022 compared to last year and include also a preliminary PPA calculation. Now back to you, Lars.

Thank you, Krister. Summing it all up, it's a quarter where we continue to see solid progress on our strategic initiative. On the supply chain and IT program, our packaging line was implemented on time, on cost and without any interruption to daily operations. It reduces our use of plastic with 17 tonnes, eliminating 99% of all plastic we send out of our Sandefjord warehouse. It also eliminates 480 containers transported with just [ plain air ]. While it also -- but in addition to being a good sustainability initiative, it also improves our OpEx, giving us OpEx savings in the range of NOK 5 million to NOK 6 million annually. And it gives us more efficient operations with a later cut-off time for orders, enabling us to improve our same day and next day delivery offering. Further on the strategic agenda, we have finalized the combination with NetOnNet and we are well underway with integration and in a period with softer market growth. I think we're in a good place with a company that's well positioned against attractive customer groups and complementary strengths with NetOnNet. We have significant synergies available and we have the best cost structure in the industry. So it's a good starting point when also moving into a period of more challenging market conditions in the B2C segment. It's a quarter where we benefit from our multi-segment approach with solid growth both in B2B and the Distribution segment. And it's a quarter where we yet again prove our cost control as our OpEx have a net decline over the quarter. But it's also a quarter with a much softer market in B2C and a quarter where we've experienced pressure on our gross margin. We expect this trend to continue for the coming quarters, while industry normalized trades before gross margins, it is expected to rebound. Komplett will continue to focus on both normalizing our gross margins through normalizing our stock levels and integrating NetOnNet in the coming quarters. And as we realize the synergy potential and leverage our combined strengths, we will improve our competitiveness further as we move along. Thank you. Kristin, over to you.

Thank you, Lars and Krister. I will now hand it over to [ Elisa ] and for the Q&A session.

We will start with the questions from the room. So if any of you have any questions, and please raise your hand and wait for the microphone. And if not, we will just go straight to Q&A from the web. When -- we have first question from Petter Nystrom. When do you expect a more normalized inventory level for the industry?

I think the industry will be working on normalizing their inventory levels over -- up until the peak season. I think that is sort of -- so the next coming quarters will probably be a period where trade stock normalizes. And then as we move into the peak season, then I think we'll see a more normalized level with a [ little more pressure in goods and stock ].

Okay. Then a couple of questions from Ole Martin Westgaard, DNB. How should we think about the negative gross margin effect from FX, assuming FX levels at the current level? Should we expect -- sorry, should we expect a similar impact in Q2?

The driver of the currency effect is where we send the goods from Sandefjord to Sweden and Denmark. So yes, I think we have the same effect in the second quarter. But I don't know the currency effect yet, but as we see the NOK, SEK currency, it's possible to estimate the effect of that.

Over time, I think the currency effects needs to be -- we need to work hard to move that currency effect over time over to our suppliers, because we have global suppliers who deliver goods into all markets and they have a natural currency hedge through that. So we'll be working on pushing that bill over to the supplier side, but it's, of course, harder as you clear out existing stock than when you start buying new stock. So our ability to push that bill to our suppliers will increase as we improve our warehouse and over time, I think that is where the bill should lie.

Okay. If the pro forma figures for NetOnNet and Komplett in those figures, you have a NOK 15 million adjustment. What is that related to?

It's related to the PPA calculation, which is a preliminary calculation. So it's an effect of the value -- the customer value which need to be depreciated.

Another question regarding NetOnNet. Do you expect to be able to realize the pricing synergies with NetOnNet in this period of softer market growth?

Yes, most definitely. But I -- we will most definitely be able to realize it, no matter how the market goes. And need to remember, our total -- our total top-line is flat. So yes, I am very confident about that. The -- but you need -- we need to remember, it takes a bit of time to get to those effects as you first need to negotiate, then you have always a lag of a couple of months before contracts sort of -- before you roll over to a new contract and then you'll start seeing it. So I'm -- we're pushing to start -- we're pushing to start seeing the first effect sort of at year-end, but let's see. But that is sort of an indicative on how we'll start seeing the first effects of our P&L. But that is not market related, that is more just the dynamic of how the negotiation process works.

Then a second question from Petter Nystrom. Do you expect the gross margin pressure to accelerate or are with the year-on-year declines in Q1 representative for coming quarters?

I think [Technical Difficulty], I really do. I think we saw at the start of the quarter, at the start of the quarter, the first couple of weeks, we actually saw prices increasing EBIT as retailers also tried to absorb a bit of the inflation coming towards us. But then it turned quite quickly down, and it seems to have stabilized sort of at the current level, well, including a very high promotion pressure. And we've seen some retailers who run promotions for 60 days consecutively. And so, yes, there is not much headroom for more pricing pressure, I don't think so.

And from Ole Martin, again, how is the inventory positioned for NetOnNet?

It's comparable to Komplett.

Okay. We are -- as there are no further questions, do you have any final comments or are we good?

We're good.

Yes. Thank you. Thank you.

I want to remind you that our Annual General Meeting will be held on the 2nd of June. And we'll be back with our second quarter results on the 19th of July. Thank you all for watching, and we wish you all a great day.