Good day, and welcome to the Mister Spex SE full year 2023 results conference call. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there will be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press star followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you would like to withdraw your question, please press star one again. For operator assistance throughout the call, please press star zero. And finally, I would like to advise all participants that this call is being recorded. Thank you. I'd now like to welcome Irina Zhurba, Head of Investor Relations, to begin the conference. Irina, over to you.
Thank you. Hi, good morning, everyone, and welcome to our full year 2023 results call. As usual, the presentation will last approximately 30 minutes -45 minutes, and then we'll allow another 10 minutes -15 minutes for the Q&A. As usual, you can find the presentation online on our Investor Relations website, on the reports and presentations. The speakers today are here with me, Dirk Graber, the founder and CEO of Mister Spex, and Stephan Schulz-Gohritz, the CFO of Mister Spex. That said, let me hand over to Dirk to begin today's call, and thank you.
Thank you, Irina, and also hello to everyone from my side. This is Dirk, the founder and CEO of Mister Spex. So, 2023 has been a year for Mister Spex, where we achieved significant improvements on our strategic initiatives, but also on the financial side. So what we will do today, we will give you first a strategic update, which I will do, and then Stephan will introduce himself as well, plus his views on Mister Spex after roughly three months with the company. He will then also share with you the financial update for 2023, followed by the guidance, and then we will move to a Q&A session. So, 2023.
If you look at the eyewear market, I think the market still is pressured from the overall environment that you see. We saw a 3% growth in Germany in 2023 in an environment with a lot of inflation, but also pressure on the consumer sentiment in the market. We see the concentration of the industry continued with over 200 independent opticians going out of the market, and we see a continued polarization of the market. So we see still an ongoing outperformance of the luxury segment, which is the premium independent label segment. Plus, we see that the economy segment, especially price entry, is also overperforming because of the high inflation and consciousness of the consumers.
Now, if you look at the Mister Spex side, we again outperformed the market in terms of revenue growth. We grew 6% for the full year. We, as you already know, focused more on prescription and sunglasses, where we in total outperformed, with 12%, and also looking at the German market, we grew 10% in that segment, which is in line with our focus that we communicated for 2023. We also significantly worked on the cost side, improved margin, by 435 basis points, which is an absolute improvement of over EUR 9 million, ending up with a positive adjusted EBITDA in 2023.
So for us, this was the core topic to work on and a significant achievement for the year that was carried by the entire organization, and we went through all the cost lines, and we will look at that at a later point. We also see that this polarization of the market in terms of demand patterns is reflected in our revenues as well. So we've seen that the boutique segment over proportionally grew in the prescription and sunglasses business, and also the own brands that we develop and distribute grew over proportionally as well. So now, Mister Spex is already a brand that's over 15 years old, and we've built a strong competitive position in the market.
And this competitive position really comprises a number of topics, and, just let me remind you, which these are. So on the one hand, it's an omni-channel model. It's the leading omni-channel model coming from the digital world, and are moving step by step also in the physical retail world. We're covering 10 countries with 75 own stores and a strong partner network with over 320 opticians. Over the years, we built this expertise in the brand segment of the market, so we carry over 150 brands with a huge assortment of close to 20,000 SKUs. 16% of our revenues are own brands and 18% are boutique shares.
We also focus on technology, so the tech capabilities that we've built up really help us to, on the one hand, I would say, build a strong USP versus our competitors, but really building something customers need. So, and really which helps them to enjoy buying prescription glasses online. So on the one hand, these are recommendation tools in terms of which products customers really are selecting and are wanting. We work here with obviously 3D face scans, where we determine the pupillary distance, but also the face width or the entire topography of a 3D scan, which we then basically use for our bespoke frame offering, custom-made frames. We also use technology for a lot of other processes to optimize.
So in 2023, we started with chat and chatbots for our customer service, significantly improving, on the one hand, the customer service levels, on the other hand, driving down costs. And the fourth pillar, which really is unique about Mister Spex is our culture and is our people. So we have close to 1,300 employees at Mister Spex at the end of 2023, from over 60 nationalities, and we put a lot of emphasis on optician trainees, which is core basically to really support our ongoing growth in terms of retail stores. So in the last years, we really continued to build a strong network of our own retail stores that drive the synergies between the online and the physical world.
We focus on our brand promise, meaning to deliver for our customers the perfect frame and the perfect lens. So this is done by recommendation tools, but also by a lot of detailed work when it comes to optical expertise to select the right frame, lens for our consumers. And in the last couple of years, we also focused tremendously on cost consciousness to simplify the organization, on the one hand, to keep up the entrepreneurial spirit and to move fast. And taking all of that together have really helped us to consistently outperform the market.
Here you see the performance, compared to the German market, which is our core and home market, throughout the year 2023, and all of that despite a quite negative consumer sentiment, which improved over 2023 in the first half and then continued to decrease again, and still at a very, I would say, low level compared to prior years. So we reported on Lean 4 Leverage since the end of 2022, and which is an important foundation for our continued outperformance. And what are the pillars, and what did we achieve? So on the one hand, we wanted always to focus on the core, delivering growth in our core business. So the German market grew 10%, supported by a 3% Like-for-Like growth of our retail stores.
We improved further labor flexibilization and labor productivity in 2023 by using a number of new tools and also training setups for our retail, but also for our corporate overheads departments. We improved gross margin by reducing discounts throughout the year 2023 by 140 basis points, and we actively steered our business towards a higher growth in prescription and sunglasses. And for contact lenses, we explicitly decided to focus more on margin and not to buy revenues on behalf or on expense of gross margin. That's why you see a declining contact lens business in 2023 at Mister Spex. And all of that was supported, as I mentioned already, by a boutique share of 18%. Our organization becomes better and better to apply the lean management philosophy.
We started in the operating departments, so our logistics and fulfillment, and also manufacturing sites, customer service, as well as the retail stores, and now moving more and more also into our corporate overhead department, focusing on value creation for the customers and enabling our employees to really apply the lean philosophy in terms of optimizing on a continuous basis, all core processes within the company. And the fourth pillar is personalization, where we went live with a new version of our iOS app in the App Store, to precisely measure faces for our consumers to determine PD, but also the full face map, which is then the basis for our bespoke frame collection, which we call Mister Spex EyeD, and which is now live in all our German retail stores. So what is next for Mister Spex?
We believe in profitable long-term growth, and for us, is based on four pillars. The one is, and which is totally in line with Lean 4 Leverage, simplicity, meaning a lean, process-driven organization that really supports an efficient customer journey and focuses on value creation for customers. Customer centricity, and we come to that in a second. Optical expertise.
As an optician, you all know that trust is the most important element in the customer experience landscape, that we need to live up to the market expectations and even over-deliver on our promises here, and obviously, the fashion and style expertise that we've built up over the years in terms of curated assortment but also the collaborations with a number of influencers and fashion designers that really help us to be an integral part of that community. So now let's have a look in all of these four pillars in a little more detail. One is simplicity.
And here, as I mentioned, we started in the more operating departments and now moving step by step also into overheads, coming up with a new organizational model, a platform operating model for Mister Spex in 2024. Customer focus. That's something which we've always had on our agenda for 15 years, so since the start of Mister Spex, and it really helps for us in terms of outperformance, also in terms of when it comes to customer expectation, right? So, a lot of people may remember our presentations, where we always start that the majority of customers don't like or don't enjoy buying glasses, and that's a KPI that we look at, and we're significantly better than the market, with half of the people already enjoying it.
There is still a lot of room for improvement, but that's something where we clearly outperform the market as well. Repurchase intention, that's obviously a very strong sign for did people like the customer experience that they had from the last time, and did they like the overall package that they received? So here, with 59%, that's also a clear outperformance that we've shown over the years and the range of eyewear styles that speaks for himself as well. Optical expertise, that's something where we, let's say, will focus even more in the coming years. So, we started to train and or to develop our own training centers and train our own people for over six years now.
Last year, we took on 38 new optician trainees, and that's something which we will continue, and that's something where we are strongly committed, investing up to EUR 2 million a year in our own training programs, including all the trainees, but also the opticians that are offered master optician classes, and so on. The second part is about technology, where we believe we're a clear leader in our industry when it comes to apps and measurement devices that we use to customize products and to offer that level of expertise that's needed to do so. We will, in the future, also increase our lens offerings and with further products to even address more customers or customer needs in future.
Fashion, that's something where we've been strong over the last years, and that's something where we stand out also versus our competition. We do have a lot of expertise when it comes to which luxury trends are relevant in the market, they are upcoming, and we do have very close relationships with all the relevant luxury independent labels to offer the products in the right perspective, in the right setup on the website, but also in our retail stores. On top of that, we do work, as already mentioned, very closely with influencers, fashion designers, artists, to come up with new exclusive eyewear collections for Mister Spex.
In 2023, we've done over 20 of these collaborations, so that's more than 1.5 new collaborations every month, which generates a lot of interest, but also a lot of traffic and reach into the community. So maybe let's sum it up. What can customers expect from Mister Spex, and what do they get? They really get the highest level of frame and lens personalization, including now our bespoke frame offering, Mister Spex EyeD. They can expect an outstanding explanation and visualization to support in decision making. What does it mean? Is that we are very transparent and very, supportive in enabling our customers to make their own decisions, right?
And that's something which is the core of our value proposition, and that they are not dependent on the perceived expert in the store, which is a gatekeeper to them, and which is making the process of buying eyewear less joyful, and that's something which we are addressing in a very different way. Customers can expect to get a comprehensive set of omni-channel features. You remember, so when you walk into our stores, you see all products have a digital signage. They have a digital price tag with the QR codes, so there's a lot of interaction. They can use their own try-ons and walk into our stores to get the advice that they want on the lenses side, or get an eye exam.
So there are many, many features which make the customer journey much more omni-channel than in any other environment. And they can expect the widest and most fashion-forward eyewear assortment in the industry in the German market. So having said that, I'm now handing over to Stephan who will give you a quick introduction, but also his priorities starting at Mister Spex now.
Yeah, thanks. Thanks, Dirk. Thanks, Dirk, for the strategic overview. It's now my pleasure to give you the overview on the 2023 financials and the outlook on 2024. I'm now, as a CFO on board since three months, and therefore, I would like to start with a short overview on my first impressions, which also will guide my future priorities as well. Some of those impressions are quite obvious because they are reflected in the numbers, and some others might not be that obvious.
Therefore, I would like to start on the right with our strong liquidity and strong balance sheet that create substantial financial headroom that we can now use to further execute on our strategy that was presented by Dirk, and also on our Lean 4 Leverage program. So it's a strong position, but it is also clear that the cash flow is still negative, and that that has to be a number one priority for us on the longer term. That brings me to an important point, which is profitable growth and strengthening our business model. Looking at our gross profit margin, it is very clear that we are running behind compared to competition. That comes down to price performance.
It has root causes in the mix, in the target groups and other aspects of our business, such as, for example, our international business. So, overall, this is the key lever that we need to address is improving the gross margin , and the gross margin at the end is a measure for the value that we are generating for our consumers, the consumer experience that the customer is willing to pay for. So from that perspective, the value creation process has to be in the center of our focus and our considerations. The next aspect that is also important is that looking at the numbers over the past five years, it is also quite obvious that we have a kind of, what I call a strategy and execution gap.
So, we have a great strategy and also an attractive long-term plan, but at the end, we are not executing fully to the strategic plan, and this is a gap. At the end, it's the people that materialize and execute on the strategy, and therefore, it is very important that, besides on all the strategic considerations, it is extremely important that we also bring the people aspect of our business much more into focus and strengthening our base for executing on our strategy. The fourth aspect on the left is, at the end, structure, processes, and efficiencies. The Lean 4 Leverage program is addressing it already, and we have made a great success and progress over the past year when we started it.
Nevertheless, there's obvious potential for improvement, for example, in the sense that we need to define much clearer responsibilities for P&L, for cost, for the different functions, corporate functions, and other functions in our business. So responsibility will be clear, clear, and this is not a kind of criticism. It is very natural when a business is strongly growing, and we are talking about getting from zero to EUR 230 million of sales in 15 years. This is a great achievement and great growth of the business, and structures and processes are always lacking behind. So from that perspective, this will be the fourth priority, to work on efficient processes and creating much clearer responsibilities in our business.
So, that is a quick overview on first impressions and, priorities, that I personally will focus on, in the years to come. Now, coming back to the financial overview. As Dirk pointed out already, we delivered on our promises, despite, that we had significant external headwinds. Net growth overall was +6%, which is a like-for-like growth of 3%, and, another 3% coming from the 8 additional new stores, that we opened up in 2023. Also, a great achievement is the significant improvement on our adjusted EBITDA, which is now positive EUR 0.9 million, and also within the guidance. And then on the right, we also delivered on cash and cash equivalents.
Net cash is EUR 111 million, which is, as said before, within the guidance. And here is also some improvements besides the adjusted EBITDA that we have significant improvements also on net working capital, for example. Now, let's go a bit more into details. The net revenue overall was driven by both channels, online and offline, but specifically more on the offline side. And here you can see on the right that we have significant improvements with respect to the performance of the stores when we cluster them by the different cohorts. And there's basically two major conclusions. In the past, it took quite a while until the stores really started to perform.
So, you can see that the cohort of 2016 is growing 6%, as the others, younger stores, are growing disproportionately. So from that perspective, it takes, well, it took a while until the stores really got strong and delivered. Now, this is the second conclusion, the new stores that we opened up really are growing strongly already in the first year. And this is a great achievement and on the basis of optimizing our store operating model. So then we can have another view, and that is supporting what I said before. The optimization of our store operating model is also reflected in the percentage of stores that are profitable, whereas below the water line.
Here you can see that we also significantly improved our store performance portfolio in 2023. And that is basically we worked on our store operating model, the Lean 4 Leverage measures, like flexibilization, gross margin focus, lean management in the stores. They are effective, and at the end, materialized on a stronger store performance overall. Now, let's have a look at the gross margin. I said, in the beginning that, we are compared to competition, below what, the competition is achieving, but nevertheless, all the measures that we have taken in 2023 materialized in a significant gross margin improvement by 212 basis points. And here, basically, we were working on pricing, and at the same point of time, we materialized on a significant product mix improvement.
We have a significant gain in the share of prescription glasses and sunglasses, whereas contact lenses, our low-margin business, contributed less. So from that perspective, it's also a great achievement already on the gross profit line of our business. Now, let's have a look at our business segments, how Germany and international perform. When we presented the Lean 4 Leverage program, it was very clear that the key focus is Germany. Here you can see that this is really effective. Germany over proportionally contributed to the growth of our business by 10%. On the other hand, international, you can see that we have a reduction of 3% compared to 2022.
Here, to be fair, we have to take into consideration that we had significant, negative FX effects, specifically in the Nordics, which had approximately a 3% effect on the top line. So if we eliminate, those currency effects, we can say that, on a fair basis, international was running flat. So, and what does it mean for us, for 2024? It means that Germany will remain in the focus, and, we are driving growth and profitability in Germany as a key focus. And, international, we will, focus on improving our margin, and, specifically, we will also evaluate, options, to develop our international business in the future. So, let's have a look on the cash development and cash equivalents, of EUR 111 million in our balance sheet.
We started with the cash basis of EUR 128 million in 2022. The adjusted EBITDA was EUR 1 million. We invested approximately EUR 15 million in our business. Approximately 50% of that was in brick and mortar, and the other 50% in tech. Leasing EUR 9 million, we also had to pay some interest, some tax on money market deposits and the interest derived from that. On the other side, we have gained efficiencies, as I said before, on the working capital. That was EUR 5 million and EUR 2 million with others, so we end up with EUR 111 million cash and cash equivalents in 2023, which is a reduction overall of EUR 17 million.
Now, let's have a look at the improvements in the different areas of our business. First of all, the gross profit margin, we discussed already with an improvement of 212 basis points. But we, on top of that, achieved efficiency gains, specifically on the marketing expenses and also the other operating expenses, where we were striving for efficiencies via our Lean 4 Leverage program. On the personnel expenses, you can see small deterioration that is basically an optical effect because we have to take into consideration that we have significant one-offs coming from the Lean 4 Leverage program. And if we eliminate those one-offs, then we also gain approximately 2 percentage points on personnel expenses. So that means adjusted EBITDA, overall, EUR 9 million improvement year-on-year.
Now, let's have a look at our outlook for the year 2024. We are starting with a revenue base of EUR 224 million. We will focus on Germany, and we will open up to 5 stores. So, we will grow overall with a low- and mid-single-digit % range in a still volatile market and a low consumer sentiment. On the adjusted EBITDA, we will further improve on the gross margin. We will open up, as I said before, up to new stores. This will drive a bit up our personnel expenses and also other costs, so that the overall guidance on the adjusted EBITDA for the year 2024 is a low single-digit % range. So, let's have a look at the different elements of our guidance.
Revenue, low-to-middle single-digit % range. Gross profit will further improve, driven by pricing, product mix, and also our brand assortment. Personnel expenses, overall, will improve. We will strike the balance between expansion and store portfolio rationalization. So, we continue to work on our store operating model so that we build a foundation for more accelerated growth in the years to come. Marketing expenses will be roughly flat. We will continue to optimize our marketing efficiency, but we also will invest the efficiency gains in our brand. So from that perspective, we expect marketing expenses roughly flat. And same applies to the other operating expenses. We will further gain efficiencies here, but we also will have to invest in our business, specifically in scalability with respect to processes and also platforms. That gives us overall a low single-digit % range.
The free cash flow overall will improve. CapEx, we estimate to be approximately EUR 13 million. Inventory also will further improve. We will optimize here as well, and the objective is to get at a level of EUR 27 million. Overall, with the cash and cash equivalents, we estimate to get to be beyond EUR 99 million in the year 2024. Overall, to summarize, the financials, we can fairly say that we significantly improved on the adjusted EBITDA and the cash flow in 2023. We will further improve our performance in 2024 in a volatile market environment, and we will further build the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth and positive cash flows in the future.
Having said that, we would like to open up the next point of our agenda, which is Q&A.
To as ask question, please press star followed by one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. That is star one if you wish to ask a question. Your first question comes from the line of Cédric Rossi of Bryan Garnier. Your line is open.
Yes. I have three questions. The first one is regarding your 2% decrease in your volumes in 2023. Would you say it's resulting from the price increases you have implemented last year? Or do you think it's maybe related to the consumer behavior, maybe a longer replacement rate or whatever? My second question is regarding the labor inflation you are expecting for 2024. So, I saw that you were expecting a slight improvement, but in pro forma, on a pro forma basis, what kind of labor inflation you are budgeting for this year? And my third question is a broader one. Yes.
Could you comment a little bit on the current trading and what you are seeing with regard to the customer behavior in Germany? Thank you.
Cédric, thank you for the questions. Can you just repeat the first one, which I didn't understand very well? Was it on the unit growth?
Exactly, yes. So sorry.
Okay.
Yes, it was regarding your performance in units. Yeah. Thank you.
Okay, got it. Maybe I start, and Stephan can also then add on my responses as well. So looking at units, I think here we have again a mix effect as well. So one is that with the de-prioritization of the contact lens business, obviously, a larger number of units was impacted with lower average order values. So that's one of the effects. The other thing is that we did focus on higher value products, which basically comes a little bit at the expense of units. So if you look here in our slide number three, you see that in the prescription and sunglasses segment, we grew 4% in units versus a market which was flat in units.
And the overall minus two came from the de-prioritization of the contact lens business. So that's on one. On labor cost inflation for 2024, we do expect them to increase. I think we have something of 3%-4% overall in the budget for labor cost inflation on the salary side. Typically, at Mister Spex, the entry level salaries benefit disproportionately versus management salaries, and therefore, the mix is somewhere in the 3%-4% range. What we've seen is, versus 2023, that the labor cost inflation also slightly reduces or the pressure comes off it. I think there was a significant step in the last two years, which we tried to compensate with leverage measures as well, and the same applies to 2024.
And therefore, we will see, as I said, on a inflation side, an improvement, but we will try to become more, I would say, we will—we focus on optimizing processes and becoming more productive across all lines of business. And on current trading, I would say that the start in the year was quite soft, to be fair, especially in January, and then step by step, improved, in February and in March. So, therefore, we are back on what we expected, but with a, I would say, significant improvement throughout the quarter. And we saw, I would say, a good start in the sunglasses season, given the weather in March, which is then a more relevant month for that category.
Mm-hmm. Super. Thank you.
Your next question comes the line of Harrison Woodin-Lygo from Berenberg. Your line is open.
Hi, good morning, all, and congratulations on closing the year with a positive, adjusted EBITDA figure, in spite of the weaker consumer sentiment. I had a few questions centered around the international segment. So as you mentioned, the international adjusted EBITDA margin is still negative. In fact, there was a year-on-year decline. So the annual report mentions that the decline in international revenue can be entirely attributed to lower revenue from contact lenses.
Mm-hmm.
But as this is the lowest margin category, why is there not a positive impact on the margin? And what is driving the negative margin here, and when can we expect the margin to become non-negative or even expect the gap to close?
Mm-hmm.
That's, that's my first question.
Mm-hmm.
Sorry, and then the second question. The prescription share of international is significantly lower than Germany, with contact lenses still representing the lion's share.
Mm-hmm.
With the international store expansion slowing as you focus more on Germany, w hat steps are being taken to increase the margin accretive categories like prescription and sunglasses?
Mm-hmm.
So those are my two questions.
So let me try to explain the first one to you. And Stephan explained it already in the presentation, there is a significant negative impact also in 2023 when it comes to FX rates in the Nordics. So the majority of our contact lens business of the international segment comes from Norway and Sweden. And so what we've seen here is obviously two effects. One effect is the direct effect of the FX rate deterioration, so which is impacting revenues here. The other thing is the indirect effect, because we are becoming less, I would say, competitive in the contact lens segment internationally when the FX rates are unfavorable. They are also losing basically the margin part, and that's something where we clearly evaluating.
I think that the year-over-year effect in 2024 will be very limited in terms of the negative interest like the, so the negative FX rate, since we're now coming into a territory where the FX rate already was quite, I would say, unfavorable in 2023 at the same period. But that's true. That's something where we need to improve, and we do work across, I would say, our cost categories, operations, but also marketing. And on the other hand, we are looking how can we create growth within that segment, within the category once the FX rates are improving again. So that is closely related, I would say, in the international segment, the top line plus the margin category.
And, you're right, the prescription share internationally is compared to the German share significantly lower, and that's something where we have a closer look at for our international expansion. We focus here on first optimizing marketing spend and cost structures before then again investing in in further growth. And Stephan already mentioned, so in 2024, we will focus more on our— I would say, we expect growth to be higher in the German segment versus international. And so we, we still see that all the things we are doing create, let's say, a higher bang for the buck in our German business at the moment.
After we've seen significant improvements here, we will then also look at international and how can we duplicate the success that we had in our German core business into other markets again.
Yeah, that's clear. Thank you.
Mm-hmm.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. That is star one if you wish to ask a question. Your next question comes from the line of Ralf Marinoni from Quirin Privatbank. Your line is open.
Yes, good morning, everybody. Maybe you can explain to us why depreciation increased so much from EUR 30 million to EUR 43 million in the last business year, and what can we expect from the current business year, also level above EUR 40 million level? And second question is, I did not get the beginning of the call, unfortunately. Maybe you can give us a feeling how Mister Spex started into his current business year and whether you still feel strong headwind from the low consumer sentiment. Thank you.
Mm-hmm. Stephan, do you want to take the depreciation part, and I may then comment on the current trading as well?
Yeah. As you all know, we are publishing our results and preparing our P&L balance sheet under IFRS standards, which require that we review the value of our assets during the year-end closing with impairment testing. The impairment testing resulted in an increased depreciation compared to previous year.
Okay.
So all-
Yeah, and a significant part of that was the Nordic business, where we see the negative FX rate and profitability, I would say, putting pressure on the impairment tests.
Okay, I understand.
Mm-hmm. And then, maybe second part of the question, which was the current trading. Yeah, so I commented on that, but quickly repeating it. So we saw a soft start into the year, especially in January, across all the business lines, but that substantially improved in February and March, where we now are back within our expectations for the quarter. And also see a good start into the sunglass season in March, given that the weather, at least in our core markets, is, I would say, in line with the expectation or even starting slightly early for a positive sun business.
Okay, thank you.
Mm-hmm.
Your next question comes to line is Cédric Rossi from Bryan Garnier . Your line is open. Cédric, your line is open.
Yep. Sorry, hey, sorry, yes, thank you. I had a follow-up questions regarding the gross margin trajectory. What kind of of a discount or promotion level is embedded in your, in the guidance for the gross margin improvement for this year? Thank you.
Yeah. So, Cédric, we want for the full year to further reduce the, let's say, discount level that we provide to our consumers, which are heavily campaign-driven, but maybe a little bit more aggressive in the first half year than in the second half. It has to do with marketing like activities that we planned for the year and where we, let's say, come up with some new campaigns and initiatives mid-year. But overall, we plan to reduce discounts for the full year, and we also have some initiatives coming up mid-year in terms of further improving gross margin by extending product range, especially on the product on the lens side of the business, and w e further work also on our private or own brand collections.
Okay. Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. That is star one if you wish to ask a question. There are no further questions on the phone, so I'd like to hand back.
Thank you, everyone, for attending this call. Also, thank you for asking questions and hope to catch up with you soon. If you have any further questions, please reach out to Irina, our Head of Investor Relations.
Yeah, thank you to all of you, and I'm looking forward to seeing all of you during the year on the road.
Thank you. Have a good rest of the day.
That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now all disconnect.