Good morning to you and welcome. Thanks for joining Puuilo's presentation of the first quarter results for this financial year.

I am Juha Saarela, CEO of Puuilo and with me is Puuilo's CFO, Annu von Weymarn. In this presentation we will go through the key financial and operational highlights for our first quarter.

After this presentation you can ask questions by calling the line. Here is the agenda for presentation.

First I will go through the key numbers and events of the first quarter and following that Annu will provide more detailed overview of the financial development during the same period. The third point is refresh of the outlook for this financial year and including the forecast ranges.

After that we will have a short overview of our growth strategy and long-term financial targets. As I said, we have reserved time for questions at the end.

Our first quarter is from February to the end of April and here you can see the key results. First net sales.

Net sales for the quarter were approximately €104 million, showing good growth to the same period last year, and total growth exceeded 16%. Like-for-like growth was good and it was almost 8%.

Customer traffic continued to increase in both old and new stores. We experienced sales growth in all months of the quarter, even in like-for-like terms.

Also, we experienced a slight increase in average basket size. Gross margin increasing during Q1 and it was 39% and increasing almost 2 percentage points from same period last year.

Especially sales growth in private label products had a positive effect on gross margin. Then adjusted EBITA, it was €16.3 million, which corresponds to almost 16% of net sales, and absolute EBITA grew by €5.4 million compared to the same period last year.

Earnings per share were €0.13, approximately 45% higher than in the comparison period. We continued to expand in line with our plans and targets and opened new stores in Hollola and Jyväskylä, Vaajakoski during the first quarter.

Both store openings and sales development after opening have been in line with our expectations. As a part of executing our strategy, we continue our internationalisation and preparations for entering to Swedish market and it is progressing as planned.

This alongside with growth in Finland is a key part of our current strategy. Geopolitical events and crises continues and the situation in the Strait of Hormuz has not changed significantly so far.

However, the market tend to adapt and find alternative solution. In any case higher oil prices have some impact on purchasing costs and logistics costs, both for us and for other players in the industry.

In Puuilo's case, these impacts are spread across a broad assortment and due to the timing of purchases the effect are not immediately visible or directly proportional. In addition we are able to pass on increased purchasing costs to sales prices to fairly wide extent.

Good. Annu, please, it's your turn.

Thank you, Juha. Net sales for the first quarter were approximately €104 million, increasing by 16.3% compared to the previous year.

At the same time, like-for-like net sales grew by 7.7%. We exceeded last year's strong like-for-like growth by 1.2 percentage points, which can be considered a solid performance.

Customer traffic increased by 14.5% in total and by 6.2% in like-for-like stores. Thus, customer traffic continued to increase also in like-for-like stores.

The average basket size also developed positively compared to the previous year, despite continued low consumer confidence. Net sales development was very good during the first quarter, and growth was seen across all product categories.

During Q1, we opened new stores in Hollola and Vaajakoski in Jyväskylä. Next, let's move on to gross margin.

In Q1, Puuilo's gross margin was 39%, increasing by 2 percentage points compared to the same period last year. The increase was driven by private label products forming a higher share of total sales.

Sales of these products grew faster than other sales, with growth reaching approximately 28% compared to the previous year. Private label products are strategically important for us as they expand and differentiate our assortment and support profitability with higher margins compared to other products.

The strengthening of the gross margin level gives us more flexibility both for growth investments and for maintaining earnings development. The share of private label products has developed well in recent year, and we expect this trend to continue in the future.

Next profitability. In Q1, Puuilo's adjusted EBITA was €16.3 million, increasing by €5.4 million or by over 50% compared to the same period last year.

Adjusted EBITA margin was 15.7% of net sales. Relative profitability was good and clearly higher than in the previous year.

The most important drivers behind the increase in profitability were net sales growth, positive gross margin development, and good cost control. The cost ratio improved by approximately 1.3 percentage points compared to the last year.

As the figures show, growth has not come at the expense of profitability. Growth and earnings have developed in parallel, which is reflected in the strong earnings figures in Q1.

Next, we will go through the development of inventory levels. Inventories increased by €10.8 million, which is mainly driven by the expansion of store network.

The increase originates in particular from inventories related to the six new stores opened during the past 12 months, as well as private label products reserved for upcoming stores. In addition, as the share of private label sales has increased, the import volumes of these products have also grown as both the number of items and sales volumes have grown.

Inventory turnover improved slightly compared to the comparison period. However, the company continues implementing measures aimed at accelerating inventory turnover.

Our long-term goal is to further improve inventory turnover. However, in the short term, there may be variation between quarters and years, even though the target is to improve inventory turnover in the long run.

Then we will move on to cash flow. In Q1, operating free cash flow was slightly above €17 million, which means that it increased by €3.4 million compared to Q1 in the previous year.

The cash flow was driven by strong net sales development and of course solid profitability. Despite the increase in inventory levels, we were able to maintain strong cash flow development, which we are very pleased with.

The spring season started to show during the first quarter, but the majority of the cash flow impact is typically realized in the second quarter. We consider that the cash flow development at the beginning of the year indicates both strong operational performance and that earnings are efficiently converted into cash.

Company's net debt to adjusted EBITDA ratio improved compared to the comparison period and was 1.2, which is well aligned with our long-term target of below 2.5. The middle chart shows the ratio of net debt to EBITDA excluding the impact of IFRS 16.

As you can see, the metric excluding IFRS 16 was 0.3, which is on the same level as last year. Puuilo's cash position at the end of the first quarter was slightly below €41 million, and the company's financial position remains stable.

Net debt excluding IFRS 16, meaning cash minus bank loans, was approximately €29 million at the end of Q1. Our long-term loans from financial institutions were approximately €70 million at the period end.

In summary, Puuilo's financial position is strong and provides a solid foundation to continue executing our growth strategy as planned. To summarize, our first quarter was strong both in terms of growth and profitability.

Growth was of high quality as it was supported by both increased customer traffic and improved gross margin. The development of earnings, cash flow, and balance sheet demonstrate that we are able to grow in a controlled and profitable manner.

Our strategy is progressing as planned, and this provides a solid basis to move forward. Next, Juha will go through the outlook for the financial year.

Please, Juha.

Thanks, Annu. We repeat the same outlook for this year.

We forecast that net sales will grow and be between €480 to €510 million. We also expect adjusted EBITA to be between €80 to €90 million.

There are uncertainties related to the outlook, such as the development of the still uncertain general economic situation, in addition to changes in purchasing power and consumer behavior. Additionally, there are other unusual uncertainties in the outlook, such as geopolitical crises and international tensions that may have a direct or indirect impact, especially on the availability and price of goods, which can affect sales and profitability.

As I earlier mentioned, for now the crisis at the Strait of Hormuz has not dramatically impacted Puuilo sales or profitability. At the moment we are in a good spot.

Lastly, the outlook includes the budgeted setup expenses for Puuilo's international expansion, the costs amount of approximately €1 million. Then a reminder about our strategy and our targets.

Six key elements of our strategy are, first one, opening new stores and continuing our expansion in Finland. Our target for this period is to reach over 90 stores nationwide.

Then entering the international market, starting with a pilot in Sweden. Continuing like-for-like sales growth, where there is still significant potential.

Strengthening our current position by increasing private label sales and being one of the most cost-efficient operators in the industry. Fifth, providing an omnichannel customer experience.

Shopping experience that is easy, affordable, and fast. It is one of the key factor for both current and potential customers.

Then sustainability work and its development. We have theme Responsible Retailer that covers the key elements of our sustainability efforts.

Working towards these six objectives will support us in achieving our long-term financial targets and presented in the lower half of this page. Our sales growth target is to achieve average annual sales growth of over 10%.

By the end of the strategy period, we aim to exceed €800 million in net sales. Profitability, our target is to reach an adjusted EBITA margin over 17%, corresponding to more than €136 million in adjusted EBITA.

We aim to distribute at least 80% of the company's net results to shareholders. Regarding net debt, our target is to keep the ratio of net debt to adjusted EBITA below 2.5 times.

Then our expansion in Finland. This year we have opened stores in Hollola, Jyväskylä, Vaajakoski, and Espoo Espoonlahti.

Next stores will be in Lahti, Holma, Kangasala, and Raasepori. The store in Vantaa, Virkamies will be closed on Sunday and it will move to Vantaa, Tammisto.

The store in Tammisto will open Wednesday next week. If all goes according to plan, during this year we will open at least eight new stores.

Growth continues and the future looks promising. Then about entering to Sweden.

As we told in connection with our strategy update and also in March, we are preparing for international expansion into Sweden alongside our continued growth in Finland. All preparations are going as planned.

Our Sweden country manager started at the beginning of this month. Negotiations for several store locations are ongoing, and the project is progressing well.

The budgeted setup costs for this year, 2026, are approximately €1 million and they are included in our outlook for the year. With these measures, we will be fully prepared to open the first pilot store.

Setup costs cover IT, legal, and organizational costs, including the country manager role in Sweden. This is a small and defined investment to assess the potential of a new market.

Our international expansion is based on organic pilot store openings rather than acquisitions. Expansion will be executed with the same operating model that requires only limited capital and that our shareholders are familiar with from our Finnish business.

We will apply the same good cost control to our international expansion as to all other areas of Puuilo's operations. We will provide updates as we reach the next concrete milestones in the pilot process.

Tack så mycket. Thank you.

Now we move on to questions. Moderator, please open the line.

Yes. Hi, Juha and Annu.

This is Maria Wikström from SEB. I have three questions and I will take them one by one.

I'd like to start from a very good like-for-like growth that you reported in the first quarter. If you could specify a bit that what product categories were selling well during the first quarter?

Hi, Maria, and thanks for the questions. All product categories has grown and are growing.

Of course there are some differences and variations between them, but all product categories have grown and so our growth has been very wide and there are no, let's say, issues or problems with product categories growth.

Is there a possible to get a feeling that how much of the growth is benefiting from the warm spring weather in Finland compared to a very cold spring weather last year versus then the improving consumer sentiment in Finland?

Our comparison numbers from last year were quite strong. As we know, there are variations, weather variations, between years and quarters.

Sometimes we can get a bit benefit of good weathers, and sometimes we don't get, but in big picture and in longer term, we think and we have proven that our sales growth doesn't base on the good weather. There are many things behind of good like-for-like growth, and good weather is, let's say, minor factor in those.

There are other drivers also: better brand awareness, maybe there are more activities in consumers, and our availability is better, our preparations for the high season has gone better than last year. There are many things behind of good like-for-like growth.

Okay. Thank you.

Then I wanted to touch on the gross margin expansion. The gross margin was up some 190 basis basis points during the Q1.

Do you see this kind of gross margin expansion sustainable in the coming quarters? Of course, we already had the Hormuz situation during your Q1, but do you think you are still able to expand the gross margin in the coming quarters despite the situation that is currently going on in the Middle East?

Our gross margin improvement is not surprise of us because that has been happened many quarters in line. It is improved many quarter in line and because our private label program is running well and we improve it, and our tactical pricing is better than before and so on.

It was only a bit higher than Q4 last year, and if you check our past quarters, you can see that the gross margin is growing quite continuously. What is coming to future, we think and we are quite sure that of course higher oil price affect to our purchasing prices in some extent, but because our assortment is so wide and there are the limited amount of products which the oil prices is affecting, we think that the affect of higher oil price will spread to our large assortment quite nicely.

Of course, we can pass the higher purchasing prices to our selling prices quite nicely and widely also. We are quite confident about the future from that perspective.

Perfect. Thank you.

Then finally on the Swedish expansion. Just that I understand it correctly, that you're currently thinking of entering the Swedish market with another brand, not Puuilo brand, you're going to have it a local brand that you expand in Sweden.

In that respect, do you really think that the €1 million as a setup cost will be enough as it seems quite low if you are going to enter the market with a new brand?

We have not decided that what is our brand name in Sweden, but let's say that Puuilo could be the nice and different brand name. It is in Finland also.

What is coming to the setup cost €1 million, we are quite confident that it is enough. Our estimation is that it is a good amount and the amount enough to do everything what we need to start the business in Sweden, in this year.

Everything is going as planned, and we have many negotiations, the store premises negotiations ongoing, and our country manager is onboarding here in Finland, and we are going as planned.

Perfect. Thank you.

I have no further question at this point.

Yes. Good morning, Svante from Nordea.

Thank you, Juha and Annu for the presentation. I hope you can hear me.

Yes. Yes, we do.

Very good. A couple of questions.

First I'll start with the private label growth. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you mentioned 28% like-for growth in private label sales.

How do you expect the share of private label sales to develop in 2026? Will it be in similar increases as we saw last year?

There have been variations between quarters and years of the speed of improvement and sometimes it improves or grow faster, and sometimes slower because there are certain timing differences and how many new private label products we can launch quarter by quarter and year by year. There is variations.

In longer term, we are confident that we can increase the number of private labels and share of the private label sales, share of the total sales also. We have the huge amount of work to do.

We are bigger and bigger, and it opens the new possibilities to start to new private label programs. Future from that perspective seems to be also quite good, and we will continue the development of private labels.

Thank you. Then regarding the Swedish setup costs which Maria addressed earlier, did you record any significant costs in Q1 already?

I guess you include the costs in adjusted EBITDA and don't take them as one-offs?

Yes, thank you for the question. Yes, we have had some costs also in Q1 because the preparations have been continued during the beginning of the financial year.

Yes, as you can see in our figures, the costs have been, let's say, quite modest. As Juha earlier said that we are expecting the cost to be within that €1 million for this year.

Thank you. Then regarding the gross margin, which increased basically 2 percentage points year on year, could you explain a bit apart from increasing share of private label, you have also mentioned earlier that lower price point products have higher gross margin for you.

Have you got support also from there or I guess your average basket size increased slightly in Q1. Could you elaborate a bit on the impact on gross margin from the mix of low and higher price point products?

That is a mix of both. The share of private label products in total sales have increased.

Yes, we have some products also with a higher gross margin. That is a mix.

That doesn't explain the whole difference.

Thank you. Do you have any comments on the trading in beginning of Q2, i.e., from May forward?

Let's say that we are quite confident about the consumer behavior and trading in future. There are no big differences or happenings which can change to our estimations and near future.

This train is driving as before and we are very confident about the near future.

Okay. Thank you.

That is all for me.

Good morning. It's Arttu Heikura.

Thank you for your presentation. I have two questions.

Your guidance seems a bit cautious after strong Q1, do you think that your like-for-like growth and profitability improvements in the latter part of this year would be somewhat weaker than we saw in Q1?

It is too early to change our outlook. We are very practically and there have been and will be variations between quarters.

As I said, it is too early to fix our ranges just now. Let's see how our second quarter, what is our performance then and we will adjust and fix our ranges if needed.

All right. Then about profitability, which was strong in Q1, were there any positive one-offs in your fixed costs?

There are no big extras or something comparing to last year. Our OPEXes were a bit lower, relatively a bit lower than last year and mainly for personnel costs.

As you know in this business, the most important is how sales is running, what is the sales growth, because of course it helps to the manage to the OPEXes also. No significant differences comparing to a comparison period.

All right. Thank you.

Hi, this is Miika from DNB Carnegie. I have also a question on that strong gross margin development.

Mainly on the timing, you mentioned that there's been some pressure on the oil-affected products in terms of sourcing costs, but the timing can be a little bit disproportionate also to your assortment. I was wondering that were you actually increasing the prices and benefiting also from sort of a positive spread that then flowed to your gross margin, which could be then somewhat at least lower in the coming quarters given that not all the purchasing cost pressure has flown through yet to your P&L?

Our selling prices are not higher than before. Of course we do price adjustments every day, but we have not done dramatical selling prices improvements or to adjustments.

Our better gross margin is due for the better and bigger amount of the private labels and it is the biggest affect to it.

Thanks. Then just on your underlying activity.

I got a feeling that you mentioned that the activity might have actually improved. We're seeing still very very weak headline sentiment here in Finland, I was just wondering that do you see that it's then the improved purchasing power that has sort of flown through to your customer base where the spending has improved or then just increased the customer base that now wants to return or just shop at your stores?

Difficult economic times suits to our business very well. Past two, three years have been quite difficult in Finland, but at the same time our business and performance has been quite a good.

We are waiting for better times because it support our sales growth and average basket size growth also. Consumer confidence is still quite low, but there may be signals or bigger or wider activations in consumers.

Let's say that near future seems to be a bit better, but it is not time to make conclusions to longer period yet. Let's see what happens in coming months and Finnish economical situation and customer confidence.

Great. That's all from my side.

Thank you.

Hi. This is Mika from Danske.

Concerning your average basket size, you indicated it has increased slightly. Have you seen any improvement there?

Then how big negative contributor this rapidly growing private label sales is to your average basket size right now?

Average basket size was €0.4 higher than Q4, but it is not fair to compare in comparison period, but it is a very difficult to compare or say that is it growing or not. Now we have two quarters when our average basket size has been bigger than before, but it is too early to say what is happening.

What is coming to our private labels, yeah, private labels selling prices are a bit lower than branded products, and it may affect to average basket size in some extent. Same time because the gross margin is so much higher comparing to branded products, let's say that it is very important to continue that program and developing of private labels.

Same time, it's good to know and see that because the private labels selling prices are lower and gross margin is significantly better, by that way we can get the pricing power and competition advantage and we can build our price image for the future and possibilities to sell cheaper if needed.

Okay. Good.

Thank you.

Good. Thank you for the questions and joining us today.

I want to thank all our customers for trusting us. We have had a busy spring and early summer.

At times, there has been more work than people, requiring flexibility and extra effort. Special thanks to all Puuilo's employees.

Happy summer to everyone.