Fiskars Oyj Abp

OMXH:FSKRS

Earnings Call Transcript 2020-Q2

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Fiskars Group's call on the second quarter of 2020. My name is Maija Taimi, I'm the Chief Communications Officer at Fiskars Group, and with me is our interim CEO and CFO, Sari Pohjonen. We will begin with a presentation by Sari and conclude with a Q&A session. [Operator Instructions] We will be referring to the presentation that can be found on our website, and I would like to draw your attention to the disclaimer on Slide 2 as we will be making forward-looking statements during the call. But with that, let's get started. Handing over to Sari.

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

Thank you, Maija. The operating environment in the second quarter can be summarized as being highly volatile, and our performance was strong in these very exceptional circumstances. In the first quarter, we said that the impact from the pandemic was clearly visible in March. And going into the second quarter, April turned out to be even more challenging and was the most difficult month during the first half of 2020. However, the market situation started to improve towards the end of the second quarter, and June ended up being strong in many categories. There were clear differences in our performance by business area. While Terra and Crea were fueled by strong demand, Business Area Vita suffered significantly from the impact of the pandemic. Earlier during the quarter, we took quick action to lessen the negative impacts and secure our liquidity. The comparable EBITA for the quarter improved clearly, largely due to our decisive actions to handle the situation. We reduced our spending in many areas and implemented difficult, yet necessary, temporary cost-saving measures, such as furloughs and reduced working hours. On the other hand, the ongoing programs contributed also to the increase in comparable EBITA. There continue to be significant uncertainties remaining for the rest of the year. The risk of the pandemic escalating is considerable, as we all can read from the media almost on a daily basis. At the same time, there are very important seasons for our business, such as back-to-school in Q3 and the holiday season in Q4, the latter being particularly crucial for the Vita business. We expect to provide a guidance once a more reliable estimate can be made. Before I go through the quarter in more detail, let me cover the announcement we made after the quarter ended in July, when our Board of Directors appointed Nathalie Ahlström as our new President and CEO. She will start in her role in January '21 at the latest, and she was chosen to our Board of Directors in March and will be stepping down from the Board when she will be starting in her new position. We welcome Nathalie and look forward to working with her. And then going into the quarter. In Q2, our net sales increased by 5.6%, and the comparable sales change was almost the same, as you can see from the slide. Looking at the first half of the 2020, so Q1 and Q2, net sales were at the same level as in 2019 and actually also on the level of 2018. The sales bridge here is highlighting the very different development of the business areas and especially the impact of the store closures and lockdowns to Business Area Vita. Our comparable EBITA increased clearly from the previous year's level and the margin increased as well. It's good to note that the comparison figures for the second quarter of 2019 were somewhat soft, and in particular the watering category faced challenges last year, primarily due to the then wet weather in the U.S. Whereas contrary to that, this year, the favorable weather in the U.S. contributed to the good performance. As we have said many times earlier, weather conditions do, to some extent, impact our business. Still over looking at the first half of 2020, the comparable EBITA was above last year's level and also higher than in the first half of 2018. Comparable EBITA increased in both Terra and Crea segments and decreased in Vita. And then looking in more detail for the Vita. Vita had a difficult quarter, primarily due to the pandemic. On the other hand, the importance of e-commerce continued to increase as people's movement was restricted. Net sales in our direct e-commerce more than doubled, while the net sales decreased in all other channels. Store closures and lockdowns were hurting sales. However, the situation started to improve towards the end of the quarter as the restrictions were partly lifted in many of the markets where we operate. Gifting is an important part of the Vita business which has been hit by social distancing rules and restrictions on holding meetings or any other gatherings, and that was also visible for us. Understandably, the hospitality channel was severely impacted by the pandemic, and it remains to be seen when it will fully recover. From a geographical point of view, I'd like to highlight the Asia Pacific region, where net sales increased. This happened in spite of the Japan market suffering from closures. Japan is typically an important market for us. Our growth plan in China is proceeding with increasing net sales, and I am very pleased with this performance during the quarter. For the Vita segment overall, as already mentioned, the comparable EBITA decreased, mainly as a result of the decreased volumes. The actions to reduce costs helped to mitigate the impact, but not fully. For Vita, the second half of the year is extremely important. Currently, the visibility into the, one could say, vital fourth quarter is very low. As we have stated in the report, we are sharpening our focus on the Vita transformation and also the development of digital capabilities. Direct e-commerce channel has been, for quite some time, one of our strategic priorities. It has been growing during the past quarters, and there is more to be done in order to improve our digital presence. We have also taken the brand strategy under review, including the allocation of resources between brands. Then moving on to the Terra business. The quarter was very strong, driven both by external factors and also our own actions. This is seasonally the most important quarter for Terra and weather conditions in the U.S. were, this year, very, very favorable for both gardening and watering. At the same time, people were more interested in these categories during the pandemic, spending time at home, as we know. In some markets, store closures did have some impact. However, many markets kept the gardening and DIY stores opened during the whole Q2. We've also seen some support from increased distribution, especially in Germany, demonstrating results from the actions we have taken during the past years in that region. Of the categories, we can say that the Outdoor category had challenges as government orders decreased. The headwind was, to some extent, eased by the growth in direct sales for the Outdoor categories. As a result of the sales development, the comparable EBITA in the Terra segment increased significantly during the quarter, but also the temporary cost-cutting measures were influencing the situations, not only the sales volumes. For Crea, the Q2 is pretty similar to the one for Terra. So Crea did well in the quarter, especially in the Americas. Demand was generally good for our categories, partly supported by the pandemic. As an example, mask making can be seen in the increased demand for scissors and sewing products. On the other hand, in Europe, store closures were causing some challenges, but the situation did improve towards the end of the quarter. The closure of our own stores reached a high in April, but at the end of the quarter, only a few stores remained closed. Also for Crea, net sales in the direct e-commerce channel increased, but it wasn't enough to offset the impact from store closures for the entire direct our own retail. Comparable EBITA increased in the quarter and, like Terra, the increase was supported by the net sales development as well as the temporary cost-cutting measures. Then looking at the geographies. Our comparable net sales in Europe decreased, and the key reason was the pandemic, which was hitting the Vita segment most due to the lockdowns and store closures, as I already mentioned. There were, however, some bright spots, for example, Germany and Norway. As mentioned before, our ambition to grow in Central Europe is showing good results. In the Americas region, comparable net sales increased, driven by Terra and Crea. And in the Asia Pacific, net sales were increasing as well as the pandemic was easing in the region. During the quarter, the design team of the Fiskars brand was recognized with a prestigious award. The team was named as the Red Dot: Design Team of the Year for consistently strong achievements. This is a title which is given annually, and the previous winner was Ferrari. This title is a great honor to the team, and it proves that we are indeed making a positive change in people's daily lives, and I'm really proud of the team and its achievements. Fiskars, like all of our other brands, has a unique identity, with a strong focus on detail, design and high quality. And here, you can see some of the marketing highlights for the quarter. In addition to the Design Team of the Year Award, Fiskars' watering equipment received Red Dot: Best of the Best Awards. And as already mentioned, our direct e-commerce is the focus area. And during the quarter, we continued the rollout of new e-com sites. The new web stores or revamped web stores for Wedgwood and Royal Doulton were launched and the introductions of additional sites will follow in the coming quarters. We have also partnered with the World Wildlife Foundation to support biodiversity in Finland. And then moving on into the figures for the quarter in more detail. Firstly, looking at the P&L. Our gross profit margin decreased during the quarter. The key reasons for this development were the decreased sales volumes in Vita and also, to lesser extent, the product mix in Crea Business Area. At the same time, we took decisive action to protect our profitability with temporary cost-cutting measures, and these are visible, for example, in the sales and marketing expenses as well as in other expenses for the quarter. Amortization increased from the previous year's level. There are 2 kind of one-off reasons for this. We did a EUR 1 million write-down on one of our smaller brands, Gingher. And also, it includes a EUR 2.5 million item stemming from customer relationship recognized as intangible assets and the amortization period of these items has been accelerated. Looking at the ongoing major programs. The 2 programs are both ongoing and they are proceeding as expected. And it's good to note that these programs already contribute to our reported figures. For the restructuring program, a major step was taken at the beginning of the quarter as our new organizational structure became effective. Here, you can see an illustration of the EPS. So earnings per share increased during the quarter, and the increase was -- from the previous year's level was supported by our strong growth in comparable EBITA. At the same time, there were some financial items and our tax rate increased, whereby the net income increased more moderately than the EBITA. Looking at the cash flow for the quarter. Also, that increased from the previous year's level. And you can see that the working capital increased during the quarter. The main reason for that is the high receivables due to the sales volumes. Then looking at the balance sheet. June was a strong month for us, and it's also clearly visible here in the balance sheet, if you take a look at the trade receivables. Generally, we have more intensely monitored also the credit risk of our receivables and credit losses have remained at the normal level during the first half of the year. At the same time, our inventories decreased, especially for the Terra categories, and we have generally accommodated the production volumes to the extraordinary situation where some units have increased production, while others have been reducing output. Additionally, we raised more loans during the first half of 2020. This has been done to make sure that we have liquidity and can utilize all possibilities that may arise. Looking at the net debt, it increased somewhat from the previous year's level. And good to note that the comparison figures for 2019 already included the change in accounting practices at that time, and by this we refer to the IFRS 16. Looking at the ratios. Our equity ratio decreased, and the net gearing remained close to the previous year's level. Just as a reminder, our long-term targets have not changed. And as said, we have not issued a new financial guidance for 2020. The situation continues to evolve rapidly. And at this time, it's not possible to make reasoned estimates on the potential impact for the full year. We expect to guide the outlook once a more reliable estimate can be made. To conclude, significant risks in our operating environment do prevail and the visibility is weaker than normal. We have the important fourth quarter ahead of us and we will continue to vigorously manage our spending and also focus our presence on those channels where the consumers are present.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Thank you, Sari. We are now ready for your questions. [Operator Instructions] We have some questions that have already arrived. So first from Jutta Rahikainen in SEB. So 2 questions on Vita. Firstly, could you please quantify roughly how much of the Vita distribution network, i.e., stores, were closed in Q2? And how much are still closed going into Q3? And then secondly, is the hospitality business significant in size for Vita?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

The first question regarding the store closures, we haven't disclosed the exact figures, but thinking about how the -- how the pandemic situation changed during the quarter, it's good to remember that, already towards the end of Q1, we had to close some of our locations in the Asia Pacific region. Then that continued to Europe during the Q2. So basically, we have been following the national guidelines in each of the markets where we operate. And towards the end of the quarter, a -- one could say a small number of locations remained closed, but the situation improved significantly towards the end of the quarter. And then in terms of hospitality, it is one of our channels. We haven't disclosed the size of the channel either.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then a question from Petri Kajaani from Inderes. You removed your guidance for 2020 in March and reiterated in the Q2 report in May that the COVID-19 pandemic will have a significant negative impact during the second quarter of the year. The Q2 numbers were excellent, clearly above the comparison period and well beyond market expectations. Why didn't you provide preliminary numbers from Q2 already weeks ago since your reported Q2 numbers deviated significantly from your earlier message to the markets?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

In our view, there were no grounds for doing that. And as you said or mentioned in the question, we did -- withdrew our full year outlook due to the situation in March and when the visibility weakened significantly. The situation continues to evolve rapidly, and at this time it's not possible to make kind of reasoned estimates on the potential impact for the full year. And additionally, we do not guide on a quarterly basis.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then another question from Petri. Could you give more detailed information on your temporary cost-cutting measures in Q2 since they were mentioned as a driver for good profitability? What sort of actions did you take and, particularly, in which markets and segments?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

As we have mentioned earlier, for instance, for all of our office employees, we either implemented furloughs or reduced working hours generally during part of the quarter. Obviously, since many of the stores were closed, that had an impact as well on the workforce also. And as mentioned, we have also taken a look at the production. Some sites have been increasing production, some sites have been reducing the production. And on top of that, generally we have been taking a look at, one could say, all spending during the quarter.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Thank you. Then another question from Jutta in SEB. So how much of the gardening and watering strength, assuming consumer behavior will not change from Q2, will fall into Q3, too? Please remind us about the seasonality in gardening and watering typical split in Q2, Q3.

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

Typically, Q2 is the strongest season for these categories. Obviously, once again, depending on the weather during Q3 as well and then moving on later towards the autumn, that is the same situation. But generally speaking, Q2 is the highest peak for these categories.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then a question from Johan Brown at ABG. With a few questions. Can you specify the magnitude of received governmental support during the quarter? Then secondly, can you specify the magnitude -- or maybe we take this first question. And then it's more about the short-term cost measures and the sales tempo later on.

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

The magnitude of government support, we haven't disclosed, but it is not significant.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then the second question. Can you specify the magnitude of other short-term cost measures during Q2 that should not be extrapolated going forward?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

That, we haven't quantified. But as mentioned, these temporary measures had a significant impact on the result development during the Q2. At the same time, however, as already mentioned, the programs that we have ongoing with the transformation and the restructuring program, those are starting to become visible in our numbers as well.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then a third question. Is it possible to give some sort of indication of how much of the savings from the transformation and restructuring program is already visible in the numbers?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

Both of the programs are ongoing, and they will continue until the end of '21. What we have said is that they are proceeding as planned, but still emphasizing and reminding that both of them are ongoing, so we haven't quantified in more detail the impact so far.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

And then the last question from Johan. Is it possible to say something about the initial sales tempo in July?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

We will be commenting the July development once the Q3 results will be disclosed.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then about -- a question from Joonas Häyhä in OP regarding demand. Please discuss how does demand currently look for the second half of the year if we assume there is no second wave that could force store closures and so forth. Do you anticipate weaker demand in second half after strong Q2? And if so, why?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

Our business is typically very dependent on the seasons ongoing. So as already mentioned, the gardening and watering type of categories, they typically are stronger in the first half of the year. The second half of the year, we have, for instance, 2 very important business seasons for us -- ahead of us: back-to-school now during Q3 and then the gifting and holiday season during Q4. Generally, as said, due to the overall situation, the visibility is low at this time.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then a question still from Joonas regarding savings. What was the level of the temporary savings in euros in Q2? And similarly as before, will some portion of the temporary savings impact second half as well? And please discuss why you are expecting adjusted EBITA to unlikely reach 2019 levels. Are there any specific items that you know to impact profitability in second half, either positively or negatively?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

If I start from the -- kind of the last question. We do not think that at this time it would be possible to make a reasoned estimate and therefore we have not guided on that one. And if the situation is such that we will be able to make a more reliable estimate, then we will get back to that. But in terms of the savings, we haven't quantified those in euros, but we have said that they did have a significant impact on the -- on the development during the Q2, as also mentioned in the -- in all of the business area materials presented today.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

Then an additional question from Petri Kajaani. You booked only EUR 1.1 million nonrecurring costs in Q2. Has COVID-19 affected the schedule of your ongoing restructuring programs?

[Sari Pohjonen, CFO, Interim President & CEO]

We have continued with both programs as planned, but it's good to remember that in these type of programs, the costs are, one could say, never evenly distributed over time. So no conclusions whatsoever should be drawn on those.

[Maija Taimi, Chief Communications Officer]

That's all for the questions. Thank you for these questions and for your time. And if you still have any questions, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us. Thank you, and wishing you a great day.