Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Anna Tuominen. I'm the IRO of Marimekko. I have the pleasure to invite soon here Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, our President and CEO, to present our Q1 results for this year. After Tiina's presentation, we'll have time for Q&A, and you can type in your questions using the chat function already during the presentation. Now, without further ado, Tiina, please go ahead.
Thank you, Anna, and good afternoon, everyone. It is my pleasure today to open up the first quarter results of our 70th anniversary year of 2021. Let's get started. I have to say, I'm personally extremely proud of our Marimekko team that in the first quarter of our 70th anniversary year, we together succeeded to make a significant result improvement in the yet still challenging situation. As we know, the coronavirus pandemic still continues to heavily impact the fashion industry. Even still, at Marimekko, we were able to grow our net sales by 17%, driven by international sales that increased by 29%. Especially the wholesale sales performed well, but also licensing income showed clear growth.
Overall, we can see that what supported us with this strong result in the first quarter was the attractive collections paired with the growing interest overall in home decoration during the course of the pandemic. Overall, the lessons learned, new ways of working that we've accumulated in the Marimekko team during the past one and a half years in these exceptional circumstances, as well as the long-term work that we have done to develop our brand and omnichannel business. These are all factors that helped us achieve this good, strong growth. We're also very happy to announce that our comparable operating profit improved significantly. It grew from EUR 1.2 million in the comparison period to EUR 5.6 million. It increased due to the sales growth as well as relative sales margin strengthening and fixed cost being lower than in the comparison period.
What is good to remark, though, here is that the decrease in fixed cost was partly due to the timing of expenses and some temporary cost savings. Overall, in 2021, in our anniversary year, we will be investing in strengthening the building blocks of our long-term international growth. During the course of the past one and a half years, our belief and trust to our international growth strategy has even further strengthened. Our plan is to really be courageous and tap into these growth opportunities that uniquely present for Marimekko as the consumer behavior is changing due to the expedited digitalization and increasing importance in sustainability. Of course, at the same time, the pandemic situation as it continues, we keep monitoring the situation very carefully and definitely then adjust plans if needed. If we have a closer look into our net sales development.
As mentioned, a good 17% total net sales growth, which were especially boosted by a favorable trend in the wholesale sales in the Asia-Pacific region, Finland, and Scandinavia, as well as the increased licensing income in EMEA, which is due to a newly signed agreement this spring. Something to be noted is that the sales growth in the Asia-Pacific was partly due to the transfer of some of the wholesale deliveries from the final quarter of 2020 moving to the first quarter of the current year. Nearly all of the Marimekko stores have been open in the first quarter, but overall, the footfall in the store has been noticeably lower than in the previous year due to the pandemic. However, as in the past year, Marimekko's online sales continue to grow, which then helped compensate the negative impacts of the reduced footfall in the physical stores.
Overall, the retail sales fell quite moderately in these special circumstances, meaning only by 4%. When we look at the net sales split per market area as well as product line, what we can see is that as the net sales growth was very much driven by our international sales growth, we can see that the share of the Finnish market dropped to 50%, while we could see nice increases, especially in the Asia-Pacific region and also in EMEA. In EMEA, of course, this markedly higher licensing income than in the previous year supported this increase in the relative share of the market area. When we look at the net sales by product line, here we can really see the strength of Marimekko's lifestyle concept featuring three product lines, namely, of course, fashion, bags and accessories, and home.
As during the course of the pandemic, people around the world have been spending more and more times in their homes. We've seen overall in the market a tremendous trend in increasing interest to home decoration. That has also translated very well for Marimekko. We have had a very strong home offering for, well, ever since the company has started, and our home products grew by 37%. However, we did see growth across our product lines, which is of course a wonderful result in these exceptional times. When we look at our retail footprint, of course, omnichannel Marimekko retail is the key driver of our growth. Today, the Asia-Pacific region already has the greatest number of stores, and the Marimekko online store already serves customers in 34 countries.
I can't highlight enough the importance of creating a seamless omnichannel experience, and that's the way that we approach our business as well. The Marimekko brand sales amounted to EUR 67.4 million, and already 69% of our brand sales come outside of the home market. What is, then, brand sales? It represents the reach of the Marimekko brand through different distribution channels. It's an unofficial estimate of sales of the Marimekko products at consumer prices, and they are calculated by adding together Marimekko's own retail net sales and the estimated retail value of Marimekko sold by other retailers. In the first quarter, as mentioned, our results improved significantly and amounted to EUR 5.6 million.
In addition to the increased net sales, also the improved relative sales margin as well as the decrease in fixed cost, partly due to the timing of expenses and temporary cost savings, contributed to this great positive development. If we look at more into detail to some of these drivers behind the forementioned factors, the relative sales margin improved due to the improved product margins as well as the significantly higher licensing income than in the previous period. We would look at the fixed costs, what were the key contributors there.
We have lower credit loss provisions, and then there are some of these timing-related aspects, such as the timing of the marketing investments, as well as some temporary aspects, such as the temporary rent reductions and some rents being linked to net sales, which of course helps flex in these exceptional circumstances where the foot traffic to the stores is much lower than usual. Just highlighting some exciting events in the first quarter, kicking off the 70th anniversary year. Copenhagen Fashion Week is today one of the world's most significant global fashion events, and it is extremely important and relevant for Marimekko because of its high sustainability agenda and positioning. Therefore, this spring, we decided instead of presenting our newest collections, to tell the story of Marimekko to the fashion industry by highlighting our timeless design philosophy, sustainability thinking, as well as our original approach to printmaking.
In conjunction of the Copenhagen Fashion Week, also the Zalando Sustainability Award competition was organized, and what is great news is that Marimekko was awarded the second place to recognize our long-term work to promote sustainability. Also, in the first quarter, we were able to continue to increase our visibility in the Asian markets, and obviously, Asia really represents an important market area for us for our next phase of our international growth. What we did, we had in several major Asian cities, Marimekko pop-up stores that showcase either our anniversary collections or our co-created special collections, limited edition collections. In addition, the world's first Marimekko Kioski streetwear store was opened in Japan with great success.
Overall, at Marimekko, we very much believe that the role of creative retail concepts, such as these kind of creative pop-ups that really take the attention in an eye-catching way and tell the story of our brand in a surprising yet natural way, represent an important part of the seamless omnichannel customer experience. We believe that the role of these kinds of creative retail concepts will even further increase in the post-pandemic new reality. A few words about the overall outlook for 2021. As mentioned earlier on in the presentation, the coronavirus pandemic has created the worst crisis experienced by the global fashion industry and specialty retail sector in decades , and it will still continue to heavily impact the sector in 2021.
It is also changing consumers and expediting consumers' purchasing behavior, and it can have an impact on our sales profitability and cash flow, as well as can impact the reliability of our company's value chain. However, as mentioned earlier, we are closely monitoring the development of the pandemic across our markets, and we will adjust our operations and plans if needed, pending on the situation. Having a closer look into our two major key market areas, of course, Finland and Asia-Pacific. Finland traditionally represents about half of the company's net sales, and also in 2021, we're expecting our sales in Finland to grow on the previous year.
Also something to be noted is that the domestic wholesale sales in the current year will be boosted by these non-recurring promotional deliveries, the total value of which is estimated to be substantially higher than in the year before and with a vast majority of these deliveries taking place in the latter half of the year. If we look into Asia-Pacific, which is obviously our second-largest market area with a very significant role in our company's overall international growth strategy. We also do expect our net sales in the Asia-Pacific region to increase in 2021. As the company's aim is to open 5- 10 new Marimekko stores and shop-in-shops in 2021, most of these planned openings will be namely in Asia. To continue, overall, both our company's own and our Asian partner's omnichannel Marimekko retail represents the key driver of Marimekko's growth.
In 2021, also the non-recurring promotional wholesale deliveries in Finland are estimated to have a significant impact on our growth. These non-recurring promotional deliveries may also increase our inventory risks. The overall development of the coronavirus situation, the vaccine coverage, and the possible tightening restrictions in the different market areas, on the other hand, do influence the customer numbers in stores, and this way also the outlook for both retail and wholesale, including the non-recurring wholesale promotions. What's also good to remember is that the rapid fluctuations in demand due to the pandemic can have an impact, for example, on the availability of products and consequently on the net sales. This year, we will be also continuing our actions to control the cases of gray exports, which will have a clear weakening impact on the company's net sales and earnings.
Also licensing income is forecast to be lower than in the previous year. As discussed earlier on, our plan is to accelerate our long-term international growth in 2021, and this way also the fixed costs are expected to be up on the previous year. What's also good to keep in mind is that in 2020, the fixed costs were reduced partly by temporary cost savings, as well as the subsidies granted in different countries to mitigate the negative impacts of the coronavirus pandemic on the business. Our marketing expenses are expected to grow to the previous year, while the total investments are estimated to be around the same level as the year before. Most of these investments will naturally be devoted to IT systems in order to strengthen our company's digital business.
Finally, because of the seasonal nature of our business, the major portion of our company's euro-denominated net sales and earnings are generated during the last two quarters of the year. Last but not least, last week we raised our earnings guidance for 2021 while keeping the net sales estimate unchanged. The upgrade in the earnings was due in particular to the improved sales outlook for the full year, supported by the very strong first quarter of the year. Thus, the financial guidance of Marimekko for 2021 is that we expect that our net sales are to be higher than in the previous year, and the comparable operating profit margin is estimated to be approximately on a par with or higher than in the previous year. Still, it's good to keep in mind that the instability caused by the COVID pandemic continues in the Marimekko markets.
Thus, there are significant uncertainties associated with the trend in net sales and earnings overall. With these words, I would like to thank for listening to Marimekko's first quarter interim results, and now I'm opening up for questions.
Thank you, Tiina. There are a few questions related to our net sales. The first one is about the increased licensing income in EMEA region. Could you tell more about this?
Yes. Some of you who may remember or have been following us for a longer time, it's typical for Marimekko sometimes to have licensing income in some quarter and in others we might not then have them. These licensing income may vary across quarters. When it comes to the licensing income in the EMEA region in the first quarter, it's related to a new licensing agreement signed during the first quarter. Unfortunately, at this point in time, I'm not able to share more about this, but as soon as it's possible, we will be then sharing more.
Thank you. The second question is related to net sales and marketing. Have you been able to improve your efficiency in marketing since you were able to reach 17% increase in net sales with lower marketing investments? If so, will this open up sort of faster growth potential in future as well?
When it comes to the first quarter marketing costs, the fact that they were lower is related to just timing. As mentioned early on, due to the seasonality of our business, the major part of the business is typically generated in the last half of the year. Typically then also it's natural that there are these sort of timing differences in the marketing investment pacing during the course of this year. Of course, we continuously develop the efficiency of our marketing efforts, but because this year especially will be further fueling our long-term international growth, we will be investing also in increasing our international brand awareness, and we will have our marketing costs and investments increase to the previous year levels. We think it's exactly what is needed at this point in time in our strategy.
Thank you. The second question is about CapEx. In the last report, in the financial statements bulletin, the estimate was that the CapEx would be growing this year. Now in the market outlook, the level is estimated to be similar to 2020. What has changed during these few months?
Thank you also for that question. I wouldn't say that it's anything major that has changed. This year we will be investing in our CapEx, especially to IT systems, in order to support and strengthen further our digital business. As Anna, you said, we currently estimate that the level of CapEx is in the previous year's levels.
You mentioned the pop-ups in Asia. Are you planning to have more of those this year?
Yes, I'm very excited to share that. As mentioned in my presentation, we do believe that the role of these sort of pop-ups as creative retail experiences will further grow in the post-pandemic new reality. Actually, after the period under review, even more Marimekko pop-up concepts have been opening around the world. For example, in mid-May, in the U.S. or North America, nine Marimekko pop-ins have been opened at Nordstrom in North America. The experience is also available online, and we've had further Marimekko pop-ups also opening in major cities in Asia. We do believe that these sort of creative retail experiences in the form of pop-ups will further increase, and we see a tremendous opportunity to share our story and to also new customer groups through these concepts around the world.
Thank you, Tiina. There are no further questions, so I think we're ready to end our Q&A session. Would you like to say something about tomorrow still?
Yes, Anna, I would like to. Some of you might know that actually today marks the day when 70 years ago, literally, our Founder, Armi Ratia, hosted the first-ever Marimekko fashion show in Helsinki, which then led to the establishment of our company. Tomorrow, we will be celebrating the 70th anniversary together with our entire global Marimekko friend community. As due to the pandemic circumstances, we're not going to be able to celebrate face-to-face. We are actually going to be hosting the world's most inclusive fashion party, called the Marimekko Summer Market. Everybody is invited, everybody can join at www.marimekko.party. This party will start at 12:00 P.M. in Finnish time. It will last for 12 hours. It will include exciting virtual activities as well as performances from all around the world by up-and-coming artists. Please, everyone, very warmly welcome to join.
Thank you so much.
Thank you.