Europris ASA
OSE:EPR
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Europris ASA
Earnings Call Analysis
Q2-2024 Analysis
Europris ASA
Europris recently announced the acquisition of ÖoB, marking a significant milestone in their strategy to establish a leading position in the Nordic discount retail sector. This acquisition aims to create a powerful Nordic champion in discount variety retail, as both companies share similar values and business cultures, offering a complementary product range. ÖoB's integration into Europris is expected to foster operational synergies and improve supply chain efficiencies, ultimately enhancing profitability.
In the second quarter, Europris reported group sales of NOK 3.1 billion, reflecting a remarkable growth of 34.6%. Excluding sales from the acquired ÖoB, organic growth was a modest 3%. Nevertheless, gross margins decreased to 41.9%, down by 2.6 percentage points largely due to the dilutive impact of the ÖoB figures. Operating expenses as a percentage of sales increased to 23.6%, indicating higher costs associated with the new integration.
Despite the substantial increase in sales, the group's EBIT was NOK 339 million, marking a decrease of NOK 23 million year-over-year. The acquisition of ÖoB incurred a negative EBIT of NOK 16 million. The net profit to parent increased slightly to NOK 266 million from NOK 260 million the previous year, showcasing Europris' resilience in navigating a complex economic environment while managing integration costs.
Europris has noticed a shift in consumer behavior as shoppers have become increasingly price-sensitive. This trend has resulted in a decline in higher-priced item sales, while cheaper products and private-label goods have gained traction. The company acknowledges the need to adapt marketing strategies and pricing to align with changing consumer preferences, focusing on essential goods.
ÖoB reported flat revenue growth amid fierce competition in the Swedish market. Sales of consumables rose, pressing the gross margin, while seasonal and non-food item revenues fell short. The company also faced profitability challenges due to underinvestment in recent years, impacting its competitive standing. Europris is confident that with adequate investment and strategic alterations, ÖoB can return to growth.
Looking ahead, Europris aims to grow ÖoB's sales by SEK 1 billion and achieve an EBIT margin of 5% by 2028. This goal will focus on improving profitability through enhanced product offerings, better customer experiences, and strategic sourcing synergies that are anticipated to range between SEK 20 million to SEK 40 million over the same timeline.
The company plans to invest up to SEK 300 million to modernize stores, enhance the shopping experience, and strengthen the IT framework. This investment is imperative to restore ÖoB’s profitability and pave the way for future growth. As Europris navigates a competitive landscape, they also perceive opportunities to expand their store footprint in Sweden, potentially adding 30 to 50 stores.
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Good morning, and welcome to the Europris presentation of the second quarter results and highlights. The numbers are out and, of course, also the integration plan for ÖoB. And today is an important milestone for Europris. With the acquisition of ÖoB that was completed on the second May. We are on an important pathway to creating a Nordic champion within discount variety retail.
This is an important historic date for the Europris Group, the biggest acquisition we've ever done, and we are moving Nordic. Really pleased to present today both the numbers, but also the integration plan and our ambitions for the new group.
Joining me on stage today is, as always, CFO, Stina Byre, who will present the financial details. And today, we also have a special guest star in Vice President Strategic Projects, André Sjåsæt, who will present the details of the integration plan with ÖoB. At the end of the presentation, we will have a Q&A session, which will be managed by Trine Engløkken. And we will start with questions from the live audience before we take questions from the web, and you might send in your questions as we speak.
Before we start, I would like to thank DNB for hosting today's event. It's always a pleasure to be here, and I'm looking forward to participate on the consumer conference you hold on the 20th of August.
ÖoB will, of course, take center stage on this day and in the presentation. But before we have a look at the integration plan and our financial targets, we will have a close look at the second quarter.
As I said, the most important highlight of the second quarter is that we acquired ÖoB. And in just a few minutes, André will present the details of the integration plan, but I'm really happy to say that we have had a very good start to the integration projects. The teams are connecting very well, and it's been a pleasure to see how a good start they have gotten off to, and we are eager to continue the work after summer holiday.
When we look at the second quarter, we had total sales of NOK 3.1 billion, an increase of 34.6%. ÖoB was included from May, and excluding the acquisition, the organic growth was 3% in the quarter.
Group EBIT was NOK 339 million. That was a reduction of NOK 23 million from last year. ÖoB had a negative EBIT of NOK 16 million, and the organic decline was NOK 8 million.
It's no doubt that we have a tougher economic climate affecting both businesses and also the consumers. And in the retail landscape, we are experiencing right now, where consumers are more price conscious. That is a difficult landscape for the consumers but also for our business.
This landscape provides opportunities for discount variety retailers like Europris. We offer good value for a wide range of essential products, but we have also seen that we have to adapt our concept and our marketing to the new and changed behavior of the consumers.
For a longer period, Europris has observed that goods with higher price points, lose relative to cheaper products in sales. We have also seen an increase in share of private label sales, and we have seen an increasing share of campaign sales.
And this is, of course, a testament that our customers are becoming more price conscious. And in such an environment, it's important that we adapt our concept, we adapt our marketing through the product that the customers are looking for.
And we have seen over time that we get more and more customers to our stores, but the shopping basket isn't getting any bigger. This means that the consumers are spending their money very wisely. They're careful with the spending, and we have to be very sharp on price and also on campaigns to attract customers in such an environment.
So we have to adapt to what the customers want. And we see that our consumers are very price sensitive and that they also are planning their purchases well in advance.
As one of only 2 retailers in Norway and actually one of 12 in Europe, Europris has been recognized as one of the climate leaders from -- by Financial Times and Statista. This list covers more than 600 European companies that are contributing to the green transition.
The ranking is based on several factors, including reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over a period of 5 years, its transparency on Scope 3 emissions, and it's also on disclosure efforts such as the CDP reporting and climate goals anchored in the science-based targets. And I'm really proud, and the whole organization in Europris working on sustainability is extremely proud that we have -- our work has been recognized.
And of course, it's a long journey ahead of us, but this gives us new energy and motivation to keep working on the important job we have ahead of us to reach our ambitious climate goals.
And with that, I will actually leave the stage to Stina, who will present the financial details.
Thank you, Espen. Before I dive into the numbers, I would just like to highlight that following the acquisition of ÖoB, we have divided the group into 2 reporting segments: segment Norway and segment Sweden.
Segment Norway is the group as it was prior to the acquisition, meaning it comprises the Europris operations and the pure-play companies. While segment Sweden is the ÖoB operations. And when we talk about organic change, that is the group excluding structural impacts from this acquisition, meaning that the organic change is the same as the change for segment Norway. And for segment Sweden, we have included numbers for May and June.
Then diving into the second quarter. Group sales were NOK 3.1 billion, with a reported growth of 34.6% and an organic growth of 3%. The gross margin was 41.9%, down by 2.6 percentage points. And including the ÖoB numbers have a dilutive effect on the gross margin. And if we exclude the effect from segment Sweden, then the gross margin actually increased by 0.2 percentage points or up by 0.4 percentage points if we also disregard the unrealized impact from currency hedging.
The OpEx-to-sales ratio was 23.6%, up 2.1 percentage points. Also here, the ÖoB figures have an impact as they have a higher OpEx-to-sales ratio, and the organic change was an increase of 1.2 percentage points.
Group EBIT was NOK 339 million, representing an organic decline of 2.2%. And the net profit to parent was NOK 266 million this year compared to NOK 260 million last year. And there are two impacts I would like to highlight from the ÖoB acquisition.
The first is a fair value assessment of the option that led to a gain of NOK 32 million. And the second is a remeasurement of the initial 20% stake, which resulted in a gain of NOK 17 million.
Now on the other hand, we had an unrealized loss of interest rate swaps of NOK 1 million this year compared to a gain of NOK 22 million last year. And for the first half, I would just like to remind you again that for ÖoB, it's only May and June figures that are included. And group sales were NOK 5.1 billion, up 21% reported but 3.9% increase organically.
The gross margin was 42.4%, down 1.6 percentage points. And again, this is due to the dilutive effect of including the ÖoB numbers as the organic gross margin was roughly on a par with last year. The OpEx-to-sales ratio was 25.9%, up 1.8 percentage points and organically up 1.6 percentage points.
The group EBIT was NOK 445 million, meaning an organic decline of 9.2%. And the net profit to parent was NOK 313 million, down from NOK 331 million last year. And the two effects that I mentioned for the second quarter related to the ÖoB acquisition, the NOK 32 million and NOK 17 million, they also impacted for the first half year. But in addition, there was a loss of NOK 16 million on the initial 20% stake up until the point of takeover.
And when it comes to unrealized effects from interest rate swaps, there was a gain this year of NOK 6 million, which was lower than the gain of NOK 17 million last year.
Cash from operating activities were NOK 208 million on a par with last year. Negative net change in working capital is normal and related to seasonal fluctuations. The net change in cash was negative with NOK 547 million, an improvement from the negative NOK 593 million last year.
In the second quarter, we paid a dividend of NOK 523 million. And the financial position is solid. And net debt, excluding lease liabilities, was NOK 1.5 billion, down from NOK 1.6 billion last year. And the cash and liquidity reserves increased from NOK 1 billion to NOK 1.4 billion. And this is from taking on an overdraft facility in ÖoB of SEK 400 million.
I would also like to mention that last year, in June, the group entered a financing agreement with a 3 plus 1 plus 1 year. And the first of these plus 1 options has now been exercised.
Then looking at the second quarter for segment Norway. Sales were NOK 2.4 billion, up by 3%, and the Europris chain had a like-for-like growth of 1.1%. There were 2 extra sales days in the quarter, but this was offset by negative timing effects from an earlier Easter. And seasonal items sold well with the exception of garden furniture.
And if we look at sales from products with a price point above NOK 1,000, these sales had a decline of 23%, and they constituted 5% of the total sales. And for the remainder, 95% of products with a price point below NOK 1,000, sales improved by 4%.
The pure-play companies had sales of NOK 131 million, slightly down from last year as sales growth for Strikkemekka was offset by a decline in Lekekassen. The gross margin was up from 44.5% to 44.7%, and the EBIT was down with 2.2% as higher OpEx and lease depreciation offset the sales growth and the improved gross margin.
OpEx grew by 8.6% in the second quarter, which was in line with expectations and the communication provided in -- when we gave the first -- the figures for the first quarter.
Looking at segment Sweden, again, numbers have been consolidated from May and June. And sales for these 2 months were NOK 0.7 billion with a gross margin of 32.4% and a negative EBIT of NOK 16 million.
For the full first -- second quarter, all 3 months, the chain had a decline in like-for-like sales of 3.5%. And this was due to lower sales of nonfood categories, including seasonal items.
And to align numbers to group accounting principles. Some one-off effects were booked prior to the Europris ownership period. And this had a total negative EBIT impact of close to NOK 50 million. And for the first full -- first half year in full for ÖoB, sales were NOK 2 billion, down by 2.1% with a gross margin of 31.2%, a decline of 3.2 percentage points. And of this, 1.2% decline was from the mentioned one-offs.
There was also a negative impact from product mix with a higher share of consumables as these items on average, have a lower gross margin than the nonfood product range. And the EBIT, excluding one-off impact was negative with NOK 105 million for the first half compared to a negative NOK 45 million last year.
And with that, I will hand it back to Espen and André to go through more details on the ÖoB.
Thank you, Stina. It's time to have a closer look at ÖoB and the Swedish operations, and I'm looking forward to give you some more details on the integration plan and also on the financial ambitions we have for the company.
Before we dive into the details, and I'll leave the floor to André, I will give you a short introduction. With the acquisition of ÖoB, we are creating a Nordic champion in discount variety retail. Both ÖoB and Europris are market leaders in their respective segment with the potential to together create a truly Nordic position for Europris and ÖoB. And ÖoB is a perfect fit for Europris.
The assortment overlap is huge, and the product and concepts are very similar. In addition, we share the same values, and we have the same business culture. It's been a pleasure to see how quickly our teams have connected and how they have started to engage and work together. You truly see that it's the same spirit and the same type of people in the company.
And we see operational synergies across the concepts and also by sharing our best practices, and we also see significant synergies throughout the value chain and then especially from sourcing. And ÖoB has some core strengths that we will continue to build on, and that will be important building blocks in the new Europris group.
They have a profound history in wholesale and retail and coupled with a very long and rich history, which is very much similar to the same of Europris. So we have been on the same journey going from a family-owned business and also going through acquisitions and growing from wholesale into retail.
ÖoB has a leading concept in discount variety retail with an extremely strong price position in the Swedish market and among the consumers and also well known for their broad assortment. And they have a solid footprint with 94 stores across Sweden with the potential to grow. They have a customer club with more than 2 million members, and they have a strong retail culture built on solid values, which is shared by Europris. All of this is a very good starting point for the important job we have ahead of us.
But ÖoB also have some challenges that must be addressed. In the Swedish variety retail market, which has grown by double digits in the couple of last years, ÖoB has had flattish revenue development.
Sales of consumables have increased putting pressure on the gross margin, leaving ÖoB in a more competitive landscape when it comes to pricing as they have been fighting with the larger grocery retailers. They lost their ownership they used to have on seasonal goods and also some nonfood categories where other marketplaces have taken market shares and grown.
And while competitors have invested into their concepts, ÖoB has been underinvested due to several reasons. They have had a weak profitability causing some liquidity strains. And of course, also the unclear ownership situation they've had over the past year has been negative for the company.
But despite all these challenges, we believe that ÖoB has the potential to regain both growth and profitability. And we believe that with the transition plan we have created, we will be the perfect partner to restore profitability and also sales growth in ÖoB.
And our ambition is to grow sales in ÖoB by SEK 1 billion and restore healthy profit margins by 2028. And this profitable growth journey will be fueled basically by 3 key initiatives: it's about category harmonization and joint sourcing, it's about improving the customer experience, and we have to strengthen the execution across the value chain.
Now I will soon leave the floor to André, who will give you some more details on these 3 initiatives. André joined Europris back in March this year. So he's a new employee to Europris but this doesn't mean that he's new to the concept of Europris.
André was part of the team that was engaged by Nordic Capital back in 2012 to create a business plan for Europris after they acquired the company. And after that, he has worked several years in consulting and also into retail businesses. He has experience both from strategy work. He has worked as category director and also as a general manager. So a very wide expertise, and I'm truly impressed by the way that André has swiftly gotten into both the Swedish and the Norwegian organizations, just impressive.
And really happy to have you on board, André, and the stage is yours.
Thank you, Espen, for that introduction. And I've been with the company since beginning of March, giving the integration process between ÖoB and Europris, my full attention. And as Espen said, the ambition is to grow sales in ÖoB with SEK 1 billion towards 2028, and I will now give you some insights into the 3 main initiatives supporting Europris' ambition for ÖoB.
The first initiative is all about harmonizing the categories across ÖoB and Europris and consolidate our purchases. We see a strong potential growing the nonfood categories and strengthening the seasonal position, both to the main season, but also the small seasonal events.
We have very high similarities across the assortment and products today, but we will harmonize the product portfolio so that we can gain full purchasing synergies, very reasonable. We also recognize that there will be, in some categories, differences between the products in ÖoB and Europris to make sure that we take into consideration local differences and preferences.
Although we will pursue product harmonization, we will adapt pricing strategies to the local markets to make sure that we take into consideration the market dynamics and the competitive levels to have strong price points. And we will also consolidate the private label portfolio, creating one brand portfolio common for both concepts.
Although the concepts are very similar, looking at Europris, having a quite balanced sales mix with 53% of sales being from consumables. Looking at ÖoB, we see that over 70% of sales come from the consumables segment. This is a segment with tough competition and lower margins compared to the nonfood categories. And we see a strong potential growing the nonfood categories for ÖoB, supporting profitable growth in the coming years.
There has been a few selected cooperations between ÖoB and Europris on private labels. But if you compare the private label portfolios, there are just very few similarities. And then Europris have today about 45% of sales coming from the private label portfolio, below 25% of sales in ÖoB comes from private label brands.
We see a strong potential harmonizing and consolidating the private label portfolio on selected SKUs and also strengthening the sales of private label in ÖoB, supporting margin uplift and profitable growth. We also see a potential within the consumables segment, positioning private label here in ÖoB as we have done in Europris in recent years.
The second initiative is all about improving the customer experience, primarily by modernizing and upgrading the store portfolio in Sweden and also implementing the proven category shop-in-shop concept that has been implemented in Europris with great success in recent years. We will strengthen the brand positioning and continue to optimize marketing initiatives in Sweden to attract new customers and also increase frequency of buying with our loyal customers.
We have a strong loyalty base today, the 2 million members of Lågprisklubben. And of course, we need to invest and continuously improve this loyalty program to secure customer engagement.
Recent years, Europris has made a strong investment, modernizing and upgrading the category concepts and implementing how categories are displayed and merchandised in the store portfolio. We have, over the years, modernized 2 to 3 categories every year, building a new profitable assortment, creating destination categories but also improving the seasonal assortment to increase relevance. This has been done with great success.
And we see that after implementing these upgrades, we lift sales and maintain sales at higher levels after the implementation. The latest example is the modernization we did with the kitchen department category first quarter this year. All new makeover of the assortment and how we merchandise and display the products in our stores.
After rollout in week 11, we see a sales uplift of 16% compared to about 2% in recent years. So we believe that implementing this shop-in-shop concept in the ÖoB store portfolio will support revenue growth, but also create a better and enhanced customer experience.
The third initiative is about strengthening execution across the value chain. And one very important process that will get a lot of attention in the first month is to strengthen the campaign process, all the way from the planning through execution and evaluation across the value chain and all customer touch points.
We will standardize and harmonize the commercial toolbox meaning discount structure, promotions, the loyalty club and also marketing initiatives and the commercial calendar. And we will implement Europris way of sales management. We believe in a hands-on daily sales operation in the way that Europris has cultivated sales management in recent years.
And of course, across both concepts, there are many opportunities to capitalize on sharing best practices on how we perform daily operations across all functions in both companies. And this we will also structure in a way to support continuous improvement, both in Europris and in ÖoB.
Both Europris and ÖoB are campaign-driven concepts, offering a broad range of categories and products at strong and competitive price points. The weekly campaigns are a key commercial activity, driving traffic to the stores and with a strong seasonal position, and we make sure that the concepts are relevant, both for the main season and all the small seasonal happenings and events.
We believe that we can take our learnings from Europris into ÖoB and support -- supporting to create a more attractive concept in the Swedish market.
And retail management is not rocket science but still highly complex. It's all about putting all the pieces together. It's about getting all the details to play out smoothly and thousands of employees to be coordinated every day.
We believe that an improved coordination across category management, campaign execution and efficient operation is the basis for building and maintaining our competitive advantage. And although ÖoB is operating at low cost levels today, we see that with the identified purchasing synergies, we will support strengthening profitability from the very start.
And Europris has a strong track record, improving retail excellence and implementing improvements across the value chain. And with our know-how and our retail culture, we are confident that we can support the transformation of ÖoB in the coming years.
Succeeding with the transformation of ÖoB is a journey that will require dedicated time, resources and efforts in the coming years. The transformation program has been well initiated and mobilized across both organizations. And we have many important activities in the period ahead.
We will push forward creating momentum on the product harmonization and the rollout of the shop- in-shops. But this will take time as we need to take into consideration the buying cycles, the lead times and also the time it takes to do an efficiency of assortment, and through the runoff of the current assortment in ÖoB.
And in addition to that, we also need to recognize that it will take time for the consumers to see the effects. From the time we implement changes in the stores to actually recognize that the concept is getting better.
Take the Christmas season as one example. Christmas 2025 will be the first Christmas season where you can see results from our joint efforts in the stores, meaning that Christmas season 2026 might be the first Christmas season we can expect traffic to increase based on the changes we make. So this is something of the complexity that we need to plan when it comes to implementation.
And as a part of that, meaning that although we will push forward for implementing changes and improvements, that will take some time before the effects will find its way to the P&L.
Ambition is set, SEK 1 billion towards 2028. This is a comprehensive transformation. And there are a lot of different initiatives and that needs to be coordinated across the organizations. We have come to a good start, and we look forward to important milestones ahead.
I've now worked closely with the Swedish management and organization for quite some weeks. And they are very positive and enthusiastic about Europris coming in as new owners, setting a clear direction. And with our willingness to invest, we have created a new boost and motivation across both organizations.
So with that, Espen, back to you for some final remarks on the integration.
Thank you, André, for a very good and detailed introduction to our plans. And as André explained, this is not rocket science. What we are going to do in ÖoB is, in fact, more or less the same as what we have done in Europris over the past years, and this gives us confidence. We know what to do, and we also know how to do it. And we're really looking forward to work on this together with the Swedish organization.
The integration plan we have designed is a 5-year plan to restore profitability and growth in ÖoB. We will add sales of SEK 1 billion, mainly by increasing sales of nonfood products. We will strengthen the gross margin through joint sourcing and improved store sales mix. And we will maintain the cost efficiency that is already implemented in ÖoB.
The turnaround is designed to generate an EBIT margin of 5% in ÖoB by 2028. And the plan will be supported by an investment program of up to SEK 300 million in improved customer experience by upgrading stores and the concept and also to modernize the IT platform.
In addition to improving profits in ÖoB, we have identified purchasing synergies in the range of SEK 20 million to SEK 40 million for Europris that will be realized in the same time frame.
The financial ambition we have presented is based on the current store portfolio. Our first priority is to create like-for-like growth in the current stores and improve the profitability. But of course, longer term, we also expect that there is room for more stores in the Swedish market.
And looking at the closest competitors, they have around 120 to 150 stores in the Swedish market. And we believe longer term, that it's possible to add another 30 to 50 stores in the ÖoB network. But of course, as I said, first priority is to create like-for-like growth and profitability in the current concepts.
Today is an important milestone for Europris. We have presented our plans and targets for the integration of ÖoB. And with this acquisition, we are establishing a strong retailer with a solid footprint in the Nordics.
Together with the pure play companies, Lekekassen and Strikkemekka, Europris and ÖoB had sales of NOK 13.5 billion in the last 12 months, and delivering an EBIT of more than NOK 1.1 billion. We operate now 378 stores across the Nordics. We served 57 million customers last year, and we have more than 3.8 million members in our customer clubs. It's a solid group with a bright future.
This brings me towards the end of the presentation. And I'm sure that you also have some questions you would like me to answer together with Stina and André, but let's summarize and also have a quick look at the outlook.
As I said at the beginning, the financial climate is still challenging for consumers, but the current market offers opportunities for concepts like Europris and ÖoB. But we must adapt our offering to fit the customers' needs and what they are asking for currently.
The Red Sea situation is still challenging regarding and disturbing the sea freight market from Far East, and we are taking measures to mitigate negative effects on capacity constraints and also higher war sales surcharges on the freight.
And finally, the key highlight for today. With the acquisition of ÖoB, we are becoming a champion in the Nordics. And the discount variety retail is an important growing sector, and we are thriving in this part of the market. And we see significant potential to increase sales and profits in ÖoB mainly by then category harmonization and joint sourcing, improving the customer experience and also by strengthening the execution across the whole value chain.
Our ambition for ÖoB is to grow sales by SEK 1 billion and get an EBIT margin of 5% by 2028.
With that final remark, we will open up for questions and I invite Stina and André back on stage. So Trine, shall we start with the possible questions from the live audience? Can we start with the web?
Can we take the questions from the web? Yes. The first one, Nicklas Skogman, Handelsbanken. What is the rolling 12-month sales and adjusted EBIT in SEK for ÖoB?
Around NOK 4 billion in turnover and adjusted for one-offs, EBIT of minus NOK 90 million. And if you look into what we have uploaded on the web, you will find a spreadsheet also giving you financials for ÖoB in SEK.
Ole Martin Westgaard, DNB Markets. Can you provide a split on the like-for-like growth on volume and price?
There has been customer growth in the second quarter and also year-to-date in the -- for the Europris chain. The basket is also up, and that is driven by price and the lower volumes.
What was the consumables share in Q2?
For the Europris chain, this was 48%. And the year-to-date, it's the same as the rolling 12 months with 53%, slightly up from last year.
What was the private label share in Q2?
That was 48% in the second quarter and year-to-date, it's 45%.
ÖoB has shown a weak first half. Do you expect the company to be loss-making in the second half?
It's a tough question. I would expect them to be profitable in the second half due to the Christmas season and the peak of sales, which is very important. But in order to do that, we need to restore the gross margin, which is -- has declined more than expected this year.
But I'm sure that with the initiatives we have taken, we are on the right way to restore that. But the total turnaround will be, of course, a longer project than this year.
How should we think about the SEK 250 million EBIT target for 2028 for ÖoB? Will there be gradual ramp up? How much of the targeted improvement is coming from gross margin improvement? And what is the timing of the expected CapEx?
I would love to have answers to all those questions. We have given a long-term goal and I would expect this to be a little bit hockey stick towards the end of that period in terms of restoring profitability and sales growth. It will take some time before we are able to harmonize assortment and also the customers to acknowledge the changes we have done, just like André explained with his example of the Christmas product.
Things will take time. The lead times and the purchasing cycles in retail is long, and we must expect that this will take some time. And obviously, we have to invest before we get the results on the investments. We'll be a little bit front loaded compared to when we will get the financial effects on both the top line and the profits.
More questions on ÖoB from Petter Nystrøm, ABG. Do you anticipate that your sales initiatives for ÖoB will lead to sales growth already in 2024 compared to 2023?
André, what should we say on that? We are, of course, confident that whatever we will do will be positive, but to promise results already in '24?
I think from the initiatives, as I said, it will take some time before we'll see the full effect. But then again, we are engaging also in the daily operations and are working on short-term initiatives as well. But I think for now, the sort of -- the running rate this year will probably be the ambition going out of 2024.
Consumables are normally a key traffic driver. Are you concerned that lowering the share of consumables can negatively affect store traffic?
I guess that the question refers to ÖoB. And we have not said that we will reduce the sales of consumables. We have said that we will increase the sales of nonfood items. So we will keep -- we are not going to scale consumables down. We will just put more focus and add sales on the nonfood products.
Can you share some insight in your store refurbishment plan for ÖoB regarding the NOK 300 million investment program? Is this for new stores and upgrades?
It is not for new stores. As we said that the total plan is based on the current store estate. So it's about upgrading the current stores and new stores is outside of this plan and will not be started before we have restored profitability and demonstrated the effect of the turnaround plan we have initiated.
Should you expect the NOK 300 million to be divided for 4 years, meaning we should expect NOK 75 million this year?
I don't think we will be able to spend that much money this year. So it will be a softer start this year. We will -- and more intense next year.
Eirik Rafdal, Carnegie. Within development of the nonfood categories relative to Europris own strengths and local competition, what categories have you identified as most likely for success in ÖoB?
There are high similarities from ÖoB towards Europris. We see a potential to grow the interior categories doing do-it-yourself categories as well. We also see a potential upgrade when it comes to storage. So the sort of the main categories will be quite equal to Europris categories.
On private label in ÖoB, is the problem that ÖoB does not have enough categories with private label? Or is the problem that consumers opt for branded goods instead of the private label offering because the private label offering struggles with perception on quality?
We don't believe that's the case. I think Europris had a head start for many years, building the private label portfolio, and we will do the same thing with ÖoB. So we believe to create momentum around this shift, and it's about creating a mix of assortments, viable options on different quality ranges to the customers.
The 5% targeted EBIT margin is significantly lower than your own 10-year average, even if you adjust for super profit during the COVID years. Is 5% the highest ever margins can go due to local competition, product mix strategy, et cetera? Or is there scope to take another step up from the 5% in due time?
That we will come back to you in due time basically. And of course, we've set this target based on the plans we have initiated. It's actually quite some details behind this and when we look at the competitive landscape in Sweden, we acknowledge that the competition is tougher and the margin is also generally lower.
And if you look at similar concepts as ÖoB, the average margin is around this 5% to 6% EBIT levels, depending on the product mix and so on. With the higher share of consumables, you will normally have somewhat lower margins.
So I think that it's very few concepts in Sweden that has the same margins as Europris. And in general, the margins are higher in Norway. And we accept that the competition is tougher in Sweden and also the margin is generally low. You should not expect ÖoB to come to Europris levels in terms of margins. But making the shift up to 5% is a significant shift from where they have been historically.
And in terms of that margin uplift, do you see it evenly split between gross margin and OpEx to sales improvements? Or will one of the two be more influential?
I would guess that the highest -- the biggest contributor will be the increase in gross margin, which is driven by both source and synergies through lower purchasing prices, but also through a better and improved product mix.
And the last question, on the SEK 3 million investment program, could you give some color on how that is split between store refurbishment, investments in IT platform, et cetera?
We do not give any specific details on how that split. But of course, a significant portion of that will go to modernizing and upgrading the store portfolio, but also other types of investment, as Espen said, in the technical platform, and also maintenance investments that is needed in the concept.
Okay. That was the final question, and I wish everybody a nice summer holiday and have a nice week.