Nelly Group AB (publ) (NELLY) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Welcome to Nelly Group Second Quarter Report 2026. Today, I am pleased to present CEO, Helena Karlinder-Ostlundh; and CFO, Josefin Dalum. [Operator Instructions] Now I will hand over to Helena Karlinder-Ostlundh. Please go ahead.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Nelly Group's results call for the second quarter of 2026. My name is Helena Karlinder-Ostlundh, and I'm the CEO of Nelly Group. And I'm joined today by our CFO, Josefin Dalum. Let me start today's call with a short walk-through of our agenda before we get into the specifics of the second quarter. So we will begin today's presentation with a short introduction to the Nelly business in the form of a video. I will then give my comments on the second quarter, after which Josefin will take you through the financial summary. We will finish with your questions. And as always, you are very welcome to send us your questions at any time during the presentation, but we do appreciate getting them as early as possible so that we can plan ahead for the time we have and answer as many of your questions as possible. So to begin, let us kick off with a short video providing an overview of the Nelly business. [Presentation]

Okay. Now let's take a closer look at the second quarter. Overall, the second quarter was a comparatively weak quarter with the negative trend we saw in the first quarter persisting. And the main reason for our performance continued to be the lack of precision in our assortment planning and buying ahead of the spring and summer season, which we also communicated in Q1. And this resulted in insufficient stock bets on a number of best-selling products and an assortment that overall just was simply not fashion forward enough. And also beyond the assortment, we recognize that neither our positioning nor our brand expression fully reached the level we want to maintain in this quarter. So as a result, net revenue was down 4.3% and our operating margin was 9.3%, which we can compare to the same quarter last year, where we achieved an operating margin of 15.3%. Operating profit came in at SEK 32.3 million as compared to SEK 55.4 million in Q2 last year. So of course, we are not satisfied with this result. It is worth remembering here that in fashion, some buying decisions will always turn out to be less accurate than others. And this is fundamentally because first orders are placed long before the products are in season. However, we recognize that we need to now further strengthen our processes and ways of working so that we can absorb these better and limit the impact on our financial performance. That said, the first half was still profitable, which really shows that the business does rest on firmer foundations now than it has historically. Turning now to our customers. This chart that you see here is the -- shows the number of active customers in the Nordics, and this is measured over a rolling 12-month basis. And as we see here, compared with the second quarter last year, the customer base grew. However, if we compare it to the previous quarter, so, quarter 1 of this year, we saw a decline in the second quarter. And this very much reflects that the relevance in our assortment was just not high enough for the more trend-conscious Nordic customer that we have at Nelly. And underneath the total number, we see that returning customers actually made up a larger share of the mix in this quarter, whereas new customer recruitment was held back by the weaker assortment. And this is really where we saw the biggest difference to the second quarter last year where we had stronger new customer recruitment. Now in Germany, by contrast, Germany, of course, is not reflected in these numbers here, given this is active customers in the Nordics. But in Germany, we have seen early traction and the customer base grew once again in the second quarter. So I think the key takeaway from this once again is simply that growing our customer base absolutely depends on having a strong assortment. The two go very much hand in hand. So getting the assortment right, of course, is at the very core of our business. Moving on to gross margin. This came in at 53.2% in the second quarter as compared to 54.5% in the same quarter last year. And here, a more extensive campaign activity and the deeper discounting that came with it weighed on the margin throughout the quarter. And to put very simply, this was what was required to drive sell-through of the spring and summer season. As we have communicated previously, we made some misses in the spring and summer season, but we still prioritized achieving a healthy sell-through and the deeper discounting simply was required to achieve this. Now this effect was partly but not entirely offset by our higher own brand share, which, of course, made a positive contribution to gross margin. So to summarize, the margin reflects pressure from discounting on the one side and support from own brands on the other with the net effect being a small decline compared to last year. Let's also now take a closer look at our own brand share. So own brand share reached 64.1% in the second quarter, which was up from 54.8% last year. And our own brands really led the growth in some core categories this quarter, and this was actually true for both womenswear and menswear. For Nelly specifically on the womenswear side, jeans, pants and knitwear all grew year-on-year, and our own brand was the main driver of this growth. Conversely, where we fell short was tops and dresses, in particular, in the second quarter. And they're both important categories in the second quarter, of course. Tops, in particular, is a key category for us. It is a category that we are known for, Nelly is known for tops, and also an important one for both recruiting new customers and the basket size. So it does really matter a lot that we get the tops category right. Now we have said this before, but it's worth mentioning here again that strategically, our aim is to offer a perfectly curated mix of our own brands and carefully selected external brands. So the mix and the curation are at the core of our business model. So own brand share will not grow indefinitely, and it will also fluctuate between quarters given both category mix and different trends. So own brand share will fluctuate. But overall, of course, we are pleased with the positive customer response to our own brands, particularly in some of those core categories that I just mentioned. Next, we will look at how our return rate developed during the quarter. So the return rate improved to 27.7% in the second quarter from 28.4% in the same quarter last year. And return rate in our business is driven primarily by category mix and also at times by specific trends. So for example, as we've mentioned before, loose silhouettes in jeans continue to add to returns in Q2, whereas the growth we saw in pants worked the other way and helped to bring them down. So of course, we have to be, first and foremost, guided by what our customers want to -- want each season. But regardless of that, our focus on preventing all unnecessary returns continues, and this is something that we continue to work with and on across all areas of the business. And it's, I think, important to really emphasize that this continued and continuous work is what's required to keep the return level -- the return rate at a low level. Finally, looking at the operating margin, it came in at 9.3% in Q2 against 15.3% in the same quarter last year. This is a significant difference, of course. And apart from the lower sales in the quarter, there are 2 factors here that are worth highlighting. So first, as I mentioned, we prioritized sell-through of the spring and summer assortment, which came at a cost to the margin, of course, but it does give us a cleaner start to the autumn and winter season. Second, we are carrying the cost of several growth investments, which we also communicated already in the first quarter, including several new roles in our head office, the Copenhagen store, which we opened in October of last year and also targeted efforts to build the German market. And of course, in a quarter with softer sales, those investments weigh heavily on the results. So this reinforces for us once again that while growth requires some investments, rigorous cost discipline also remains central to keeping our financial performance stable going forward. So with that, I will hand over to Josefin, who will take you through the financials in more detail.

Thank you, Helena, for the introduction. Let me share a few more details on our Q2 financial performance. Net revenue for the quarter amounted to SEK 346.3 million compared with SEK 361.7 million in the same quarter last year. In local currencies, the decline was 5.8%, Hence, currency movements had a positive impact on the reported figures. As Helena described, the shortfall was concentrated in Nordic markets and driven by assortment positioning, especially within the categories, tops and dresses. Average order value in the Nordics decreased by 5.2% to SEK 715 on a lower average number of items per order and the number of orders in the Nordics fell by 3.8%. As Helena mentioned, the return rate, which has been a key area of focus in recent years, decreased again in the year-over-year comparison by 0.7 percentage points, ending at 27.7%. This was primarily driven by a more favorable product mix. Gross profit for the quarter amounted to SEK 184.1 million compared with SEK 196.9 million in the same quarter last year. which is a decline of 6.5%. In margin terms, gross margin came in at 53.2%, down 1.3 percentage points compared with the same quarter last year. The higher own brand share supported profitability, while increased campaign activity affected the result negatively. Moving to operating expenses. Operating expenses increased by SEK 10 million quarter-on-quarter. Fulfillment and distribution costs were SEK 41.7 million, down from SEK 42.7 million and broadly flat with continued improvements in distribution. As a share of net revenue, they rose slightly to 12% as part of the cost base are fixed against the lower revenue. This also gives us scalability for future growth though. Marketing costs were SEK 38.1 million, up from SEK 36.2 million, mainly on higher paid advertising in our core markets, continued investment and the launch in Germany and brand building activities. Paid advertising in the Nordics carried a higher cost per order on weaker demand. As a share of net revenue, marketing was 11%, up from 10% last year in the same quarter. Admin and other operating costs were SEK 72 million, up from SEK 62.6 million last year, driven primarily by higher personnel costs in the Copenhagen flagship store, which opened in the fourth quarter of 2025. As Helena noted, both after the first quarter as well for this one, these are mainly investments in the company's continued development. Operating profit for the quarter ended at SEK 32.3 million SEK 23.1 million lower than last year as lower gross profit combined with a higher cost base. The operating margin was 9.3%, down from 15.3%. Importantly, the business remained clearly profitable through a weak first half, which points to a steadier foundation than in the past. Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet. Our financial position strengthened further. Operating cash flow for the quarter was SEK 99 million compared with SEK 104.1 million last year. A lower result weighed on the figure, while changes in working capital contributed positively. Cash flow from investing activities was minus SEK 4 million, mainly IT and technology investments and cash flow from financing activities was minus SEK 10 million relating to amortization of lease liabilities. Inventory was SEK 217.6 million at the end of June, up from SEK 172 million a year ago, which gives 17.2% of rolling 12-month net revenue. The buildup is mainly deliberate in autumn and winter season stock. We bought ahead of planned growth and brought autumn deliveries forward to secure proven sellers and only a small share is due to the lower sales in the first half of the year. Disciplined sell-through remains a core focus and has been one of our success factors through the transformation and will continue to be so. Our cash balance was SEK 300.6 million at the end of June, up 15.8% from SEK 259.6 million a year ago, leaving us with a strong balance sheet and an equity ratio of 42.7% up from 32.6% last year. This morning, we also communicated that we will initiate the share repurchase program and the purpose of the repurchase is to optimize the company's capital structure. The repurchases shall commence earlier than 17th of August 2026 and shall end no later than 17th February 2027. A maximum of 2,500,000 ordinary shares in the company may be repurchased for a total amount of up to SEK 30 million. The repurchase will be carried out by Danske Bank, and the Board intends to propose that the repurchase shares should be canceled through a reduction of Nelly's share capital at the next Annual General Meeting. Further information about the repurchase program and financial figures will be available on Nelly Group's website. That concludes the financial highlights, and I will now hand back to Helena for some closing remarks.

Thank you, Josefin. Now let me briefly summarize the first half in terms of the learnings we are bringing forward with us and also the actions we are taking. So the clear learning is that we had insufficient rigor and precision in our planning and execution and specifically in our assortment planning and buying ahead of the spring and summer season. And our brand expression was also not at the level we aim for. And of course, these 2 are intimately connected. At the same time, there are several positive trends to build on. A number of core categories grew year-on-year. Our own brand share grew. The return rate remained a continued focus for everyone in the company and came down in the second quarter. And importantly, the business stayed profitable despite softer sales. And putting all this into context, we see that the competitive landscape is now changing very quickly and that the bar for what precision is required in business model positioning and brand is higher than it has been before. And it's clear to us that the players that will succeed are those that are working in more innovative and agile ways going forward. So against this background, we have now launched a deeper program of work that is underway across the areas that matter most for us going forward. And this includes positioning, brand, our creative processes, buying, data, AI and supply chain. Part of this is about tightening the systematics of how we build the assortment so that our buys are more clearly informed by data and always without fail, pass all the defined checkpoints before we commit, which through this process, lowers the risk of the kind of misses we saw in this first half. The balance we are working towards, though, is to stay brave enough to lead on key fashion trends while being systematic enough to manage the risk that comes with it. And to support this work, our Board has now organized itself into an assortment committee and the Strategy Committee, both of which will be great assets for us as we look to drive progress on these matters. To close, we really see that with disciplined execution, Nelly's potential remains substantial and our strategy holds firm. As we've said before, the customer is our compass always. And with the right execution, we really do see that we are well placed in several markets to become a truly unique destination for the most on-trend fashion, always rooted in Stockholm and Scandi Style, which is our particular point of difference. We do this by combining our own brands with carefully selected international brands, as we've said before, to create a genuinely curated offering for our customers. And we will get there through disciplined planning and execution, but also through innovation across the areas I just mentioned. The second quarter of this year was comparatively weak, but the direction is clear, and we are certain that the potential is intact. So that brings us to the end of our presentation, and Josefin and I will now take your questions.

Thank you, Helena and Josefin, and thank you all for joining this morning. We received a number of questions through the webcast. And the first one is for you, Helena. [Joachim] is asking, despite a higher share of owned brands, a lower return rate and positive effects from currency in the quarter, the gross profit margin is below the previous year. Can you comment on that and what we could expect going forward?

Yes. Thank you. So as we mentioned during the presentation, there really were 2 competing forces at work here. As the question also mentioned, some positives that definitely had a positive effect on the margin. But critically, we had to employ a deeper level of discounting across a longer period during the second quarter to ensure that we still achieved a healthy sell-through of the spring and summer season assortment. So yes, that is simply put what happens when we make some misses in how we develop our assortment. And we have always throughout the transformation said that sell-through is an incredibly important metric for us. So in this particular quarter and in the first half of the year, really, we had to ensure a good sell-through by means of discounting, which impacted the margin.

And the next question is for you, Josefin. It's from Erik and he's asking, inventory level has increased compared to last year. Is this level to be expected going forward? And could you comment on the stock composition in regards to current versus old stock going into Q3, please?

Thank you. The increase is mainly in fresh current autumn/winter season stock. Older stock is broadly flat year-on-year. So there is no aging overhang. Of course, after sales in both the spring and summer ranges contributed, but it's largely -- the buildup is largely due to deliberate timing, buying for planned growth and putting autumn deliveries forward for proven sellers. And of course, we manage our inventory levels tightly, and we expect the ratio to reflect our ongoing growth journey as we keep our focus on the sell-through rate.

Moving on this one is from [Yuan]. Helena, this is for you. When can we expect a physical store in Germany?

Yes, great question. We have not made a decision regarding any physical store in Germany at this point. Now as we've communicated before, we are approaching Germany in a very measured and long-term way and sort of slowly building through targeted efforts. Opening a physical store in Germany would be quite a big step for us. So this is not something that is decided or planned at this point. But of course, it's, yes, something that might be a relevant possibility to look at as we get further into the German market.

And a question from Johan Fred at SEB. Given the acknowledged buying errors in part of your assortment, how much of H2 2026 is already locked into prior orders? And when should we expect the corrective buying to be reflected in revenue and sell-through?