Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for Marimekko's Q3 Webcast. My name is Anna Tuominen, and I'll be your host today. With me, I have our President and CEO, Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko, who will, in a short while, run you through our Q3 results. And after that, we'll have a Q&A with also our CFO, Elina Anckar, joining us. You can already ask your questions by using the chat function on the platform. Without further ado, Tiina, please go ahead.
Thank you so much, Anna, and good afternoon also on my behalf. And it is my pleasure today to walk you through Marimekko's Q3 performance. So let's get started. Overall, in Q3, our net sales were nearly at the record level of the comparison period, despite the timing of non-recurring promotional deliveries, and the operating profit margin remains excellent. All in all, in the third quarter, we continued well in our SCALE growth strategy journey, despite the challenging market situation. Our net sales totaled EUR 47.2 million, and as previously estimated, the non-recurring promotional deliveries in the wholesale sales in Finland were lower than in the strong comparison period, which reduced the net sales.
On the other hand, then retail sales developed well in all market areas, especially in Finland, and in total globally by 12%, and actually in Finland by 8%, which really speaks not only to the demand and desirability of our brand and products, but equally to the good work done by all of our team members in this challenging market situation that really demands commercial agility. Our comparable operating profit totaled EUR 11.1 million and remained at an excellent level at 23.5% of net sales. Then, in terms of the operating profit, the higher fixed cost had an impact in particular, and that decreased the operating profit in the third quarter of the year. Overall, our financial position remained strong, and that, of course, offers us the great possibility to continue on our journey to scale up our growth and the Marimekko brand phenomenon around the world.
Then let's have a closer look into the different drivers behind the net sales and profitability. In terms of the net sales in the third quarter, our net sales decreased by 1%, so nearly remained at the record level of the comparison period, landing at EUR 47.2 million. The lower wholesale sales in Finland, due to the non-recurring promotional deliveries being as estimated earlier, smaller than in the comparison period, had a negative impact on the net sales, while then, on the other hand, our net sales were boosted by the good development of retail sales, particularly in Finland. Our total omnichannel sales globally grew in all market areas and increased by a total of 12%. Then these wholesale sales, as mentioned, were decreased by the non-recurring promotional deliveries in Finland being below the comparison period.
As mentioned and as previously estimated, the non-recurring promotional deliveries in wholesale in Finland were weighted clearly to the first half of the year, unlike this year, and then we have also estimated earlier that in total, the non-recurring promotional deliveries in Finnish wholesale are significantly lower this year than in the year before, so with this being the main reason, the sales in Finland decreased by 9% this quarter. However, while the general market situation in Finland continued to be challenging and the business environment was highly tactical, our retail sales in Finland increased by 8%, which is really a strong result. On the international front, very positive progress. Our international sales increased by 9%, and our net sales developed positively in all market areas except for EMEA, where we are at the moment modernizing our brand and distribution.
Without the EMEA impact, actually, our international net sales would have increased by 13%. Then when we look at our company's second biggest market area, the Asia-Pacific region, in total, the region grew in sales by 9%, with both wholesale and retail sales developing favorably. Our wholesale sales grew in total by 11% and retail sales by a good 22%. Then when we look at the cumulative net sales, our net sales increased by 4% to EUR 128.6 million, being especially boosted by the growth of retail sales in Finland and an increase in wholesale sales in the Asia-Pacific region. Our omnichannel retail sales developed very well in all market areas and grew in total by 9%, while then wholesale sales developed well in the Asia-Pacific region, Scandinavia, and North America. Our net sales in Finland grew cumulatively by 2% as a result of good development in retail sales.
Again, the domestic non-recurring promotional deliveries were below the comparison period, which lowered the wholesale sales. What is also good to note is that the domestic wholesale sales were also weakened by some of the wholesale deliveries in the first quarter of this year, being already realized in the fourth quarter of 2023. Then in terms of the international net sales, nice growth by 7% in total. And again, the international net sales developed favorably in all other markets, except for EMEA, where we are in the middle of this brand and distribution modernization. In the second largest market area of Marimekko, Asia-Pacific region, we saw 11% growth during the first nine months of the year. And it was really the increased wholesale sales especially, but also the good development in retail sales and licensing income that grew the net sales in this region.
Then when we look at the net sales split by market area and by product line, there are no major changes here. We can see a slight uplift in the share of the Asia-Pacific region net sales of total and a slight decrease in EMEA due to the aforementioned reason. Then in terms of the net sales by product line, again, no major changes. We saw a small uplift in the share of fashion category as the fashion product line grew by 9% in the first nine months of the year. Overall, the Asia-Pacific region has the greatest number of Marimekko stores in the world today, and our online store serves our customers in 38 countries. So in all the markets where there are physical Marimekko stores, there's also an online store that serves our customers in an omnichannel way.
In total, we have, after the first nine months of the year, 166 stores that are delighting and serving our customers. Then when we look at our cumulative brand sales, so brand sales, just as a reminder, really represents the reach of the Marimekko brand through different distribution channels, and it is calculated by estimating the sales of Marimekko products at consumer prices, meaning that it's calculated by adding together our company's own retail net sales and the estimated retail value of our products sold by other retailers. So in the first nine months of the year, our cumulative brand sales reached EUR 309.5 million, so a nice growth of 10% compared to the year before, and 71% of the brand sales in these first nine months came outside of our home market, Finland.
Then when we move into the profitability part, in the third quarter, Marimekko's comparable operating profit margin was on excellent level. So it landed to EUR 11.1 million and remained, as mentioned, on excellent level by the comparable operating profit margin equaling 23.5% of net sales. What were then the drivers behind? Higher fixed costs, in particular, decreased operating profit. In addition, also the weakened net sales and relative sales margin caused a negative impact on the operating profit. In this third quarter, our fixed costs grew due to the increased marketing and personnel expenses. When it comes to the marketing expenses, those were, for example, due to the planned investments into the 60th anniversary of our most iconic print, Unikko, and the kind of brand marketing opportunities that we have wanted to capture throughout the year in celebration of that.
Then the personal expenses were partly due to the general pay increases in different markets, but also due to the increased personal costs in retail stores to support the growth there. The relative sales margin was weakened by an increase in logistics costs, but discounts were on par with the comparison period. When we then look at the cumulative outlook or cumulative view into the profitability, the cumulative comparable operating profit margin landed at 17.6% of net sales and totaled EUR 22.7 million. That was our comparable operating profit in the first nine months of the year. The operating profit was weakened, especially by the higher fixed costs, and on the other hand, then an increase in our net sales did boost our operating profits.
It was again the same drivers behind, so fixed costs grew due to the increased marketing and personnel expenses, and then the relative sales margin was nearly on par with the comparison period. The relative sales margin, just to say a few words about that, was negatively affected by the higher logistics costs and discounts, but then on the other hand, the relative sales margin was boosted by margins per product remaining at a good level. Then when we look at some of the key events in the third quarter, in our SCALE strategy, one of the key strategic success factors has to do with a sharpened creative vision to speak to an even wider global audience.
One example of our continued work to further develop the desirability of our brand and collections is the Marimekko Maridenim collection, which is our first denim collection that really expands and complements our lifestyle offering at the same time as it provides a new canvas for the Marimekko art of printmaking. The Marimekko Maridenim is designed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation Jeans Redesign Guidelines, which are based on the circular economy thinking. This Marimekko Maridenim new collection category launched in the stores in August, and it was launched through very inspiring events around the world from Shanghai to Tokyo to New York and to Helsinki. This collection has been extremely enthusiastically received by customers around the world. Unikko, our 60th anniversary celebrating most iconic print of all time, is, of course, very visible throughout the year in our communications and in our collections.
That was also the case in the third quarter. During Helsinki Design Week in September, we actually returned our very popular Bar Unikko from Milan Design Week. This was one way for us to cast the limelight to Unikko in our important home market in the third quarter. Unikko was also celebrated in Taipei through an anniversary show that really brought together friends of the brand in the market. While at the same time, of course, we also have our eye onto the future, and we premiered our Spring/Summer 2025 collection at Copenhagen Fashion Week to an abundant audience comprising of fashion influencers, media buyers, and also friends and loyal customers of our brand.
Then when it comes to the development of our omnichannel retail experience, probably the most important and significant highlight in the third quarter had to do with the launch of our new e-commerce platform. This new e-commerce platform enables our online store to provide our customers with even more personalized experiences, and at the same time, it offers a lot of opportunities for automation, just as an example. In addition, in the third quarter, one new store was opened in Shanghai and six pop-up stores and one Marimekko Café around the world, delighted our customers around the world. Moving on then to the outlook of 2024. Just to get started, a few words in general.
Of course, the uncertainties related to the development of the global economy influence consumer confidence, purchasing power, and behavior, and as a result, may have an impact on Marimekko's business in 2024, especially in the important domestic market of Finland. Also, the different exceptional situations may cause even significant disruptions in production and logistics chains, and this way may have a negative impact on our sales, profitability, and cash flow. Naturally, as always, we're closely monitoring the general economic situation, the development of consumer confidence and purchasing power, and the impacts of different exceptional situations, and we will adjust our operations and plan if and when needed. A few words about seasonality.
It's good to remember that because of the seasonal nature of our business, the major portion of our company's euro-denominated net sales and operating results are traditionally generated during the second half of the year. Also good to remember that the timing between quarters of these non-recurring promotional deliveries in Finnish wholesale sales and their size typically vary on an annual basis. This is definitely something that we have also seen this year. Licensing income in 2024 is forecasted to be approximately at the previous year's record level. A few words about the net sales development. Starting from Finland, our important home market. Here, despite the weak market situation, the net sales in our important domestic market are expected to be approximately at the level of the previous year.
They are in 2024 impacted by the weak general economy and low consumer confidence, as well as the development of purchasing power and behavior, and also the tactical operating environment has an impact on the business, and what has been already said in my presentation is that in 2024, the non-recurring promotional deliveries in wholesale sales are expected to be significantly lower than in the comparable year and weighted clearly in the first half of the year, then moving on to the international side of our business, so first of all, our international sales are estimated to grow in 2024, and so are also the sales and the net sales in our second largest market, the Asia-Pacific region, expected to increase this year. In 2024, our aim is to open approximately 10-15 new Marimekko stores and shop-in-shops.
And as common also in the previous years, most of these planned openings will be in Asia. Then when it comes to growth, investment, and costs, we, of course, develop our business with a long-term view, and our aim is to scale our profitable growth in the upcoming years. So in 2024, our fixed costs are expected to be up on the previous year. So are also our marketing expenses expected to increase while we're also tapping into the unique opportunity of the Unikko anniversary that really lends itself for awareness-building opportunities to support our long-term growth. What is also good to remember is that these early commitments to product orders from supplier partners that are typical of our industry partly further emphasize in these by the exceptional situations.
These do undermine our ability to optimize product orders and respond to any rapid changes in demand and consumer behavior, which also increases risk related to sales, inventory management, and relative profitability. What is also good to note is that the risk of delays in production and logistics chains is higher than usual, and if materialized, these kinds of delays can have an impact on our sales and profitability. But as always, we work constantly, actively to ensure a well-functioning production and logistics chain to avoid delays and to mitigate the negative impacts of generally increased costs and to enhance inventory management. So today we reiterate our financial guidance for 2024, and we estimate that our net sales for 2024 are expected to grow from the previous year, and our comparable operating profit margin is estimated to be approximately some 16%-19%.
The development of consumer confidence and purchasing power, particularly in Finland, the global supply chain disruptions, and the general inflation development do cause volatility to the outlook of 2024. But with these words, I would like to thank you for listening and would like to open up for the Q&A section. So I would like to invite Anna and my colleague Elina, our CFO, here with me on stage.
Thank you, Tiina. There's already a number of good questions waiting, but you still have time to type in your questions for us. There's a few questions that are very detailed and go beyond our disclosure limits, so unfortunately we can't open up our costs in such a detailed level. But let's start with the marketing costs.
Elina, year to date, marketing costs are higher than in 2023, some 30%, and also higher marketing costs were mentioned as a reason for Q3 result. How do you see marketing costs developing in Q4?
Thank you for the question. As we have already mentioned in our market outlook, the marketing expenses are expected to grow this year, and if we then look at the run rate at the end of the third quarter, cumulatively we are like 6% of the net sales, and the same number last year was 5%, and as Tiina already explained earlier today, we have planned investments into the long-term growth of the company.
Another question related to our inventories. They're up both year on year and on quarter. Are you preparing for a strong Q4, or what is the reason behind the inventory levels?
Thank you for the good question again. And naturally, we need to optimize and make sure that we have enough products to sell to actually ensure our top-line expectations as well. But it's good to remember that as the world is so volatile and has been also last year, that we need to also ensure that we are mitigating the possible disruptions in the supply chain and, of course, the ones that we have experienced. So that is also affecting the inventory levels year on year.
Tiina, you mentioned that that tactical environment, especially here in Finland, and we have a question related to that. So could you please maybe elaborate on our promotional strategy, especially price reductions for different sales?
Sure, happy to. So of course, as written in our interim report today, the overall general environment, the macro environment has continued to be very challenging and sort of weak in terms of consumer confidence.
In order to be successful in this type of a climate, it is important to, of course, first and foremost, to always build the brand, build the brand hype and cultivate it, and then pair and marry that with commercial agility and commercial excellence. The market today, the market environment is very tactical, and of course, any player must ensure keeping competitive within that environment. So for example, to answer that question, within the last month, recent month of October, we have been in the middle of the mid-season sale, and also that is the month of our Friendship Sale, so our beloved friendship campaign in Finland, which are both promotional campaigns. Yeah, so it's quite natural that. Yeah, these are just very kind of concrete examples from the past months.
Okay, how would you describe the Finnish retail market in general? Do you see any light at the end of the tunnel? The 8% growth is quite an achievement.
So I think that when we look at the statistics, of course, still we can see that the general macro situation is weak and the consumer confidence is low, while maybe a little bit better, but still on a low level. However, at Marimekko, we never want to go behind any market situation, and I think that this is something that we can really demonstrate in our results that we announced today with the 8% omnichannel retail sales increase in the domestic market of Finland, but also the 12% omnichannel retail sales growth on the total global level.
We believe that, first and foremost, this is a result of a strong brand, strong collections, and then the good work done by our teams in the constantly changing environment with our commercial agility.
There's a question about the seasonality. Looking at the past years, EBIT has been usually higher in Q3 than on other quarters, and then net sales are typically quite high on Q4. Is there some particular reasons for this seasonality?
I think I can sort of reiterate what I just mentioned in the market outlook. As typical of our industry, there is this seasonal nature in the business, which means that the kind of euro-denominated net sales and earnings accumulation is focused on the second half of the year.
Okay, given the solid earnings and strong balance sheet and cash position, do you think that Marimekko would consider paying an extra dividend still for 2024, or has there been any discussions on allocating cash either on dividends or in other forms?
So this is, of course, then a matter for the AGM, and what I can just mention is that our dividend policy is to pay at least 50% of the EPS, and historically we have been quite a good kind of stable dividend payer as a company.
One more question relates to the international sales and the role of EMEA. You mentioned that there's work to be done for modernizing the brand and distribution in that area. Is there something more that you can tell about this work?
So some of you who have been following Marimekko for a longer time might remember that some years ago we have actually been going through similar kind of distribution and brand modernization efforts in some of our other markets, and there we can already see that we have progressed further. So for example, looking at the report today, we see nice development, for example, in Scandinavia, and there we have done in recent years good investments to revamp completely our Stockholm flagship store experience. We opened a new flagship store in Copenhagen, established a strong presence in the Copenhagen Fashion Week, worked a lot with local influencers, and also important wholesale channels. And there we can definitely see that we are on a good path with our kind of brand modernization efforts.
So basically what we are now describing, what we want to do in the EMEA market, it's something similar. And as one kind of activity or action as part of that, also in our Capital Markets Day organized in September, we also shared that our plan is to open also a flagship store in Paris. And of course, Paris is not only an important capital, you know, in France, but it's also a really important fashion capital on the global perspective. And we believe that by strengthening our own retail presence in the world's fashion capital, it can have a very positive supporting impact to our sales also in other channels.
Thank you. That was all the questions. Thank you, Tiina and Elina. Thank you for taking the time to be with us, and we hope to see you in February when we come up with the full year results.
Thank you.