Puuilo Oyj (HEL:PUUILO)
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Apr 24, 2026, 6:29 PM EET
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Earnings Call: Q4 2023

Mar 27, 2024

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

Hello and welcome to join Puuilo's Q4 and full year results conference call. I am Juha Saarela, the CEO of Puuilo, and like before, our CFO Ville Ranta is here with me.

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

Hello.

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

In today's presentation, we will have an overview of the last quarter of the year as well as the results for the final year. After the presentation, we will be happy to answer any questions. Then today's agenda. First, I will go through the key numbers and main events of the reporting period. After that, Ville will go through the financial development of the final quarter and the financial year in more detail. I will continue with the outlook for the financial year 2024 and as well as the strategy and long-term financial targets. We will also go through the main themes in our sustainability work. We will conclude the presentation with Q&A. Good. Here you can see the key figures for the final quarter. In the last quarter, that will say period November to January, our net sales grew strongly and was EUR 76.8 million.

The total growth was over 12%, while the like-for-likes grew by 1.06%. The growth in Q4 was driven by an increase in the number of customers, and this has been consistent through the financial year. The net sales increased in all months of the quarter, and it was supported by both old and new stores. Q4 had challenging comparison figures, especially in November and December, due to significant sales of goods related to the energy crisis at the end of 2022. Gross margin, it increased to 36.7%, which is a strong performance, especially given the past year's inflation. The sales of private label products and their share of the total sales have grown steadily as planned. This has supported the gross margin during a challenging period from a gross margin perspective. Ville will provide more details on this later during this presentation.

The Adjusted EBITDA was 13.9% of net sales, which is lower than the comparison period, but still at a good level. We opened new stores in November in Helsinki Konala and just before Christmas in Vantaa Varisto. At the end of the financial year, we had 42 stores open. In Puuilo, the Christmas season is not especially significant for sales, so we are not dependent on typical Christmas shopping. We do have a small assortment of Christmas-related items, but it is a very limited amount. Overall, the final quarter went well, and we are satisfied with the performance. Then let's take a look at our results for the final year, meaning the period February to January. The net sales grew strongly, and the total increase was over 14%, which is better than the previous year. The like-for-like stores grew 5.2%.

The gross margin increased to 36.6%, and the adjusted EBITDA was 16% of net sales. We performed strongly in a challenging economic environment with inflation raising all operating costs and reducing purchasing power. We managed to beat the market growth, expand our market share, attract new customers from our competitors, open five new stores, and maintain the company's profitability at a very high level. With the opening of five new stores, we also hired more new staff than even before. However, this has led to a temporary increase in personnel costs because new stores don't generate as much net sales as those that have been open for a few years and therefore are not as profitable at the beginning as the old stores. The sales of private label products grew strongly, and its share of net sales is about almost 21%. Ville will provide more details on this later.

Last fall, we completed a business acquisition and purchased three Hurrikaani stores. These stores will be rebranded as Puuilo before the summer. Among these, Nokia store has already been opened. The opening of the Ylöjärvi store is actually today, and Forssa store will be opened in the beginning of May. We also made significant progress and improvements to our logistics by centralizing warehouses in one location in Nurmijärvi. This will reduce logistics costs in the future, improve transportation efficiency, and provide us with the capacity to increase imports in the future. The demand of goods sold by Puuilo has not decreased. Our concept withstands economic changes and uncertainty. Most of the goods we sell are affordable items, and one doesn't need to compromise to buy them as we offer budget-friendly everyday items. The strong performance of the financial year demonstrates this. Good. And now Ville, it's your turn, please.

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

Thank you, Juha. The net sales of the last quarter or Q4 was EUR 76.8 million, and it grew by 12.4% compared to the corresponding quarter of the previous year. Like-for-like net sales grew by 1.6% in the last quarter, with the number of customers increasing by around 2%. Within the fourth quarter, November, December, were a bit sluggish in terms of sales due to the early start of the winter season already in October. At the end of the quarter in January, the growth in net sales was strong. The increase in net sales came from physical stores while online sales decreased. In online sales, the situation is divided. Store pickup deliveries from the stores are increasing, but sales of dispatching deliveries are decreasing. The driver of the increase in net sales was the increase in the number of customers, which in Q4 was about 12% at the company level.

Overall, the fourth quarter was somewhat divided in terms of sales, the development of which was influenced by the timing factors mentioned above, but also by the previous year's hard counter figures, especially for November, December during the quarter. Puuilo opened stores in Helsinki Konala and Vantaa Varisto during the fourth quarter. For the entire financial year, the increase in net sales was 14.2%, and it was in total approximately EUR 338 million. Like-for-like net sales growth was 5.2%. The number of customers grew by 15% at the company level and 6% on a like-for-like basis. Here too, the increase in net sales came from physical stores while online sales decreased. When looking at the product groups, like-for-like sales grew in all our main product groups, in some product groups even a double-digit rate. The number of customers grew more than the average basket throughout the financial year.

This shows the continued appeal of the Puuilo concept. The basket size was affected by the shift in demand to products which are cheaper price point, which I will tell you more about later. A total of five new stores were opened during the entire fiscal year. From the point of view of net sales, the financial period ended was variable. Overall, we are satisfied with the whole year. We crossed the net sales threshold of EUR 300 million, and from here, we will continue towards our long-term goal, which is over EUR 400 million. Then we move on to gross margin. In Q4, the gross margin was 36.7% of net sales and increased by 0.5 percentage points compared to the comparison period. I'll say right away that it's a good performance.

The increase in gross margin in Q4 is explained by the decrease in logistics costs and the accelerated sales growth of owned private label brands. Of all the quarters of the past financial year, the gross margin sales of owned private label products were strongest during the Q4. The emphasis of the sales mix on products which are cheaper price point also had an effect on the increase in the relative gross margin. Our gross margin level for the financial year was 36.6% of net sales, and it increased by 0.4 percentage points compared to the previous year. The main reasons for the increase in gross margin are largely the same as previously stated. The most significant factor is the decrease in logistics costs, where we have centralized operations. We have practically got rid of several different warehouse locations, centralizing them in the same place, which brings us savings.

Logistics costs have also been affected by the decrease in sea freights during 2023, although very recently, they have seen a slight increase again due to the situation in Red Sea. Another clear change that supports our gross margin has occurred throughout consumer demand in the sales mix. The cheaper item sells better than the big items, and this leaves us better margin. Consumers have replaced generators with a paintbrush. And as a third factor, the increased share of owned private label brands in sales has supported the increase in gross margin during 2023, which is one of our key strategic goals. In our opinion, the improvement of the gross margin at the level of the whole year in this inflation environment is a very good performance. The strategy is working and will continue in the current financial period as well.

We have said this before, but believe that the gross margin will improve again in the future, the main driver of which is to increase the share of owned private label brands. Then this slide shows the development of the share of owned private label brands over the past five years. The share has grown every year, and in the last financial year, the share was now 20.6% of net sales. The growth of the share slowed down a bit compared to the last year, but at the same time, I would like to emphasize here that measured in euros, the sales of owned private label brands grew by 18.1%, which is actually strong growth. Puuilo has a total of about 50 so-called owned private label brands, of which few are shown in the lower right corner of this slide, for example.

Products sold under owned private label brands can be found in each main product group, most in Puuilo's so-called do-it-yourself product categories. The number of individual private label product articles reaches already in thousands in total. The gross margin of owned private label brands is clearly better than the margin of so-called branded products. Increasing the share of owned private label brands is a key part of Puuilo's growth strategy. In the long term, we aim for a share of about 30% of our owned private label brands in the company's net sales. There is still plenty of work to do for years to come. And then here is a little analysis from the point of view of the sales mix and the changes that took place there between the financial years 2022 and 2023.

On the left side of the picture, you can see the gross margin difference to the company average in percentage points divided by products' selling price categories. As you can see from the picture, the margin of the products' price less than EUR 20 is on average 2.6 percentage points higher than the company's average gross margin. The biggest gross margin difference arises from the products which selling price exceeds EUR 100, and where the gross margin difference is already as much as 8.5 percentage points lower compared to the company's average gross margin. Well, then we move on the right side of the graph. We can see how the share of the products of these different price points has changed between the financial years 2022 and 2023.

So we see that the demand has clearly moved more to the products of the cheaper price point, and the share of those over EUR 100 products has fallen quite strongly of total sales mix. In our opinion, this phenomenon is caused by inflation. The consumer is more carefully considering the purchase of more expensive consumer goods. This suits us because by far the majority of the products we sell cost less than EUR 20, and this is actually the core of Puuilo in terms of sold pieces volume. Puuilo's average basket size in the financial year 2023 was EUR 28.4 without value-added tax, and it decreased slightly compared to the last year. Then let's move on to profitability. Adjusted EBITDA for Q4 was EUR 10.7 million. Adjusted EBITDA increased by exactly EUR 1 million compared to the comparison period.

Relative profitability was 13.9% of net sales, and it decreased compared to the comparison period. The adjusted EBITDA was affected by the increase in personnel expenses and the increase in other operating expenses, which is partly due to the acceleration and timing of the new store openings. The Hurrikaani business acquisition made in September 2023 is reflected in Q4's operating expenses, but not yet in sales. The increase in personnel costs is mainly explained by the general increase in salaries and resource investments in opened new stores. Adjusted EBITDA for the entire financial year was EUR 54.1 million, and it grew by EUR 5.3 million compared to the previous financial year. Adjusted EBITDA was exactly 16% of net sales, and it decreased compared to the previous year. The main reasons for the decrease were the increase in personnel expenses and other operating expenses.

Inflation will also force its way into Puuilo's cost structure, for example, throughout the general increase in salaries, energy prices, and the inflation of other operating expenses. Unfortunately, we have also had to accept the price increase letters from our partners. The EBITDA, on the other hand, was supported by the good development of sales and gross margin. We are satisfied with the performance of the entire financial year, taking into account the general market situation. We are not yet at the long-term goal in EBITDA margin, but we firmly believe that we will achieve it in the future. Here you can see the development of Puuilo's inventory levels over the past three financial years. The excess stocks or inventories of a couple of years ago are now a distant memory.

We have been able to push the relative value of the inventory drastically down by increasing the turnover rate of the inventory. The current ratio of the inventory value to the net sales for the entire financial year is 27.5%, which is as much as 6.6 percentage points less than in the financial year 2021. The value of the inventories at the end of the financial year was EUR 93.1 million, and it increased by EUR 3.2 million compared to the previous year. This figure includes the inventories of five new stores, the value of which is approximately EUR 8 million. Thinking in this way, the comparable value and turnover rate of the inventory has actually developed even better than the reported figures.

The inventory turnover rate strengthens the company cash flow, and our goal is, with the help of a new centralized warehousing solution and the automatic replenishment system, even to accelerate the inventory turnover ratio in the future. Good development in this area too. In Q4, Puuilo's cash flow was EUR -1.4 million. This is due to the normal seasonal changes because during the Q4, the company typically orders a lot of goods from the coming spring and summer season in the warehouse, for example, from Asia. Looking at the time series, it's good to note that in year 2022, the company had an exceptionally large amount of previously ordered goods in its warehouses. Then there was not such a need for reorders. Now the situation has normalized in these respects, and as I told you on the previous slide.

Cumulatively, Puuilo generates operating free cash flow of almost EUR 55 million, cash flow increased by around EUR 2 million compared to the previous financial year, and was therefore very strong. Good management of working capital, especially management on inventory levels, and the increase in the inventory turnover rate can be seen nicely in the operating free cash flow of the whole year. The company's result is effectively converted into money, and Puuilo could be described as a cash machine. Then a few more words about the balance sheet. The ratio of the company's net debt to Adjusted EBITDA remained at the same level compared to the comparison period. The current ratio of net debt to Adjusted EBITDA is in line with our long-term goals. At the end of the financial year, Puuilo's cash and cash equivalents were approximately EUR 22 million, and the company's financial position is stable.

When looking at the balance sheet at the end of the financial year, it's good to remember that the company voluntarily repaid its bank loans for EUR 20 million in autumn 2023. This led to a situation where Puuilo's remaining bank loan is currently only EUR 50 million. The company's net debt expressed in old terms, meaning the amount calculated without lease liabilities, is therefore already quite low at the end of the financial year. A strong cash position gives Puuilo a financial buffer, defensiveness, and enables the ability to pay dividends according to our goals. Here are the figures as a summary, which we already went through. Good figures, good result both from Q4 and from the financial year. Then Juha continues this with the dividend proposal.

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

Thank you, Ville. Next, we will go on to Puuilo's dividend proposal by the board of directors. Puuilo's goal is to have a dividend payout ratio in excess of 80%. We can achieve this because we are not required to have a large cash position to fund our growth. Our cash conversion ratio is high, and we are able to open new stores and increase the share of private label products through imports with the current working capital resources. The board proposes that Puuilo pays EUR 0.38 per share as dividends. This dividend would increase by EUR 0.04 compared to the last financial year, which is a 12% growth in dividends. The dividend amounts to 83% of the company's net result. The dividend would be paid in two installments as in recent years. Good. Then let's take a look at Puuilo's outlook for this financial year.

We forecast that net sales will grow and will be EUR 380 million-EUR 410 million. And adjusted EBIT will be between EUR 60 million-EUR 70 million. This forecast includes elements of uncertainty arising from changes in purchase power and customer behavior driven by inflation and interest rate levels. And in addition, political strikes in Finland, geopolitical crises, and tensions may have an impact on the availability and price level of goods, either directly or indirectly. The new fiscal year seems to have started well in terms of sales. However, the current spring is affected by political strikes, which may have an impact on the availability of goods. Puuilo monitors the situation closely and prepares for the situation. Good. And then we will go to the strategy and targets for the coming years. We have the same strategy. It is simple, and it is a strong growth strategy.

We open new stores every year. The number of openings can vary from year to year because we don't want to open them at any cost. Year 2024 stands out with at least 6 new stores. Today, we have an opening in a new store in Ylöjärvi, and if everything goes as planned, we will have at least 48 stores by the end of the year. We have many negotiations ongoing for next year, and we are optimistic about them. The majority, our store network is rather young. About half of the stores are still less than five years old. We expect the store sales to increase in the coming years, especially with the increase in brand awareness. Like-for-like sales and the number of customers are the most important metrics for our business and concept.

Increasing the number of private label products and their share of sales is an important strategic goal for us. The development of private label products has been good, and we achieved nearly a 21% share of the net sales last financial year. Puuilo is one of the most profitable retail companies, and our goal is to maintain profitability while we continue to grow. We have been able to keep the operating costs under control, even though the increase in personnel expenses has been faster, mainly due to new store and personnel trainings. Online store is an inseparable part of our service and concept. It has become a more and more important part of the customer experience, and this is why we have continuously improved it in order to better serve our online customers as well as those customers who visit our stores.

Here are our long-term financial targets by the end of the financial year 2025 and three-year statistics showing how we have achieved these targets each year. Our net sales target is above EUR 400 million by the end of the financial year 2025 and Adjusted EBITDA margin at least 17% every year. We aim to distribute at least 80% of the net income as dividends each year. Our target is to keep the net debt to EBITDA ratio below two times. As this table shows, we are doing quite well in achieving our goals. The net sales target of EUR 400 million will be achieved soon and ahead of schedule. There is still potential for improvement in Adjusted EBITDA. We are paying special attention to this current financial year, especially because our growth is now faster than usual, and inflation has increased operating costs.

As mentioned on the previous slide of the presentation, we are in the process of updating our strategy, which will be published on Investor Day on 23 April this year. Our growth has been consistently steady, and none of the exceptional events of previous years have changed the direction of our growth. Also, the rate of the growth has changed. It has steadily been strong every year. We are highly confident that this same trend will continue in the future. This picture shows that Puuilo's concept is not reliant on short-term trends, economic upswings, or similar factors. We offer affordable, extensive assortment to ordinary and smart customers. And then a few words about our store network. We opened five new stores during the financial year 2023, which was a record for us in terms of new store openings.

All of these openings have been successful as expected and strengthen our belief in high demand for our products. This year, we have opened one store in Nokia, and today we have the opening in Ylöjärvi. The next opening will be in Forssa and in Lahdesjärvi in Tampere. Next, the opening announcement for the upcoming stores. We will open our third store in Oulu in September in a very good location. This store will be located in the Karjasilta area. Over the years, we have learned to understand better our existing potential, and our history has shown it. With a demand potential of over 200,000 residents in Oulu, we need more than two stores to meet a market of this size. If the ongoing projects planned for this year proceed according to schedule, we will be opening at least six new stores.

As we have mentioned, our intention is to slightly speed up the growth, and this is indeed happening. By the end of the year, we would have at least 48 stores. The number may increase. We will continue our growth in the coming years as well. And then sustainability overview. Our sustainability work has been categorized into three main themes: responsible retailer, good place to work, and consume more sustainably. Responsible retailer and the sustainability of our supply chain are our primary areas of focus regarding sustainability. By the end of 2025, we aim to have 80% of our foreign suppliers compliant with either the BSCI or another recognized sustainability program. Currently, 56% of our non-Finnish suppliers are committed to some sustainability program. We also have hundreds of Finnish and European suppliers. We expect these suppliers to follow responsible practices in production and procurement.

We also expect them to adhere to Puuilo's ethical procurement guidelines contractually. If we identify any issues, we address them collaboratively with the supplier. Personnel well-being, good and safe working conditions, contractual factors, and supervisory work are key elements in our operations and social responsibility efforts. We invest in training and care onboarding and increasingly strive to create opportunities for career development. The previous year was exceptional from the view of personnel training. The number of training days approximately doubled when compared to 2022. Most of our workforce, over 70%, have full-time employment contracts, and this will continue in the future. It is also worth mentioning that the results of our employee satisfaction survey conducted last December improved, surpassing the industry average. The response rate was nearly 100%. And then consume more sustainably is the consumption caused by Puuilo's own internal operations and resourcefulness.

We have long been focusing on energy efficiency, energy procurement, waste output, and recycling. We have carried out several lighting renovations in our stores, and now almost every store has lighting. The electricity we procure ourselves is 100% renewable. We have six solar power plants on the roofs of our stores, and this year our goal is to implement five new solar power plants, the electricity produced by which we will use ourselves. Last year, the measurable comparable electricity consumption continued to decrease by about 2%. Currently, there are five electric vehicle charging stations, and more are on the way to Puuilo's parking lots. We experienced a slight setback regarding our recycling goal as our recycling rate decreased to 67%. Going forward, we will pay special attention to achieving our goal of 73% recycling rate by the end of the financial year 2025.

Nevertheless, our waste output is already carbon neutral due to undertaken compensation actions. During last year, Puuilo has begun preparing reporting in accordance with the CSRD reporting requirements. We have conducted a double materiality analysis, which will be the basis for our sustainability matrix. The first report based on CSRD will be published during the spring of 2025. Good. Thanks. Now we will move on to the questions. Moderator, please go ahead.

Operator

If you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad to enter the queue. If you wish to withdraw your question, please dial pound key six on your telephone keypad. The next question comes from Joni Sandvall from Nordea. Please go ahead.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Yes, thanks, Juha, Ville, for a good presentation. I have a couple of questions. Firstly, just for clarification, you mentioned tough comps in November, December, and could start for the financial year 2024. So can you give any indication of the January like-for-like growth?

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

Yeah, thanks for the question. January like-for-like growth was strong. I won't give an exact number here, but if we describe the sales development during the Q4, as we mentioned, the November and December were a bit sluggish, but then we got very strong growth in January, both in like-for-like and on a total company level. The main reason for the sluggish sales development in November and December was, according to our analysis, a bit early winter, so the sales were moved a bit to October, so in Q4. Of course, the counter figures from the previous year were very strong due to this energy crisis thing in 2022.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Okay, thanks. In Q4, if we are excluding the energy-related products, were there some product groups with stronger or than weaker sales development?

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

There are several product groups which were in very good development. I won't tell them here due to the competition reasons, of course, but very good development in many main product categories. And yeah, that's all I can say about that.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Now you have two of the three Hurrikaani stores open and Forssa is opening in May. In total, you are expecting to open at least six new stores. What kind of sales should we expect from these three new Hurrikaani stores for fiscal year 2024?

Thanks. Thanks. Thanks. Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

How about now? Good. Okay. We are waiting for, let's say, typical starting of all three Hurrikaani stores. We are very confident about those. And those locations and cities are those kinds that we have been looking for many years. And that is why we are quite happy that we made that deal with Hurrikaani. But shortly, let's say that we are waiting for a little bit stronger start of them than typically. There are no risks to wait for the smaller starts. We are quite sure that this is happening.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Prices? Have you seen any changes there? And given the competitive environment, how these potential changes will impact selling prices?

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

You mean the competition? How the competition is affecting the selling prices?

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

We are hearing your competition maybe speaking about the lower sourcing prices and maybe even lower selling prices. So have you seen similar patterns on your sourcing?

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

What is coming to sourcing? Of course, there are differences between years. As you know, last year, the sea freight prices were, let's say, normal. Okay, end of last year, sea freight price is a little bit higher. Now it is decreasing again. And it affects in some extent, but not in the big picture. Sourcing prices, we don't see big changes in the future. What is coming to the selling prices? We are following our competitors very closely and try to be one of the cheapest options in the market.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Okay. Okay. And then maybe follow up on this. With the political strikes now, have you seen any impact currently, and how well are you prepared for the summer? I'm just thinking here, do you have any containers that you are waiting for the summer season?

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

We have not seen hits or impacts yet. But of course, if that strike continues, it will affect product availability issues. We can't say how widely, but we will face them if this situation continues. We have not a big amount, but a certain amount of containers waiting in European harbors to come to Finland. Hopefully, this situation ends as soon as possible, and we can come back to the normal situation.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Okay. Thanks. And lastly, on still the top-line guidance, it's including now six new stores. And top-line guidance implicates what, 12%-21% total growth in fiscal year 2024. So if you can give any color on what kind of like-for-like growth you are expecting in fiscal 2024.

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

Yeah. Yeah, thanks. We are expecting the, let's say, same level of growth in like-for-like than we reported from last year. So we are expecting good development in like-for-like. And frankly speaking, we have a bit of signs of it already that the new year has started well. And like Juha said, that at least six new stores will be opened. And if there's more, of course, the net sales will be then higher than, let's say, the middle point maybe. But we believe that the ranges are what we have now released. We will be in the ranges.

Joni Sandvall
Associate Director in Equity Research, Nordea

Okay. Thanks a lot. That's all from me.

Operator

The next question comes from Calle Loikkanen from Danske Bank. Please go ahead.

Calle Loikkanen
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

Yes, good morning. Thank you for taking my questions. I'd like to continue on the like-for-like answer that you gave on the topic. The like-for-like growth in Q4, 1.6%, obviously a bit lower than what we've seen in the past quarters. You said that you are expecting this year that the like-for-like for the full year would be similar to last year. I was wondering more about then the kind of timing between the quarters. Do you think Q1 will kind of be back to those normal type of levels, 5-ish %, or do you think that this like-for-like growth will be kind of postponed more into the perhaps second half of the year or something?

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

Yeah. Like I said to Sandvall, we have signs already that the new financial year has started well. Of course, when you're looking at the whole year quarters, as you know, our main quarter in terms of sales volume and maybe in sales development is Q2. It's impossible to say how the like-for-like sales will land on the quarter level, but we believe that this year will be good throughout the whole full year.

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

Yeah. And I'd like to add that one quarter is a quite short period to think or to make the estimates in the future. Let's say that the train runs, this business goes, and the customer needs products, and there are no big changes or demand changes if something external issues happens. If we can live normally and a normal life, the customer's behavior doesn't change so quickly. And that is why one quarter is too short time to make the estimates for the near future.

Calle Loikkanen
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

Yeah, thank you. That makes sense. Then I was wondering about the margin target of 17%-19%. Last year, the margin was 16%. And of course, it's been a very challenging market. But I was wondering what are kind of the main drivers for reaching the target, and what would need to happen for you to reach the upper end of the margin target?

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

Last year, we invested quite heavily into the personnel training. As I mentioned before, the training days number was doubled compared to 2022. We have opened quite a big amount of new stores. During the last one and a half year, we have opened seven or eight new stores. Those stores are new. They don't generate sales at the same level as the old ones. That is why the profitability in them is not at the same level. That is one reason. But you are right. We need to pay attention to our personnel costs in this year. We are doing that. One thing that I like to say is that that was temporarily the case in our history. We can run and estimate our personnel and workforce use better in the future.

Calle Loikkanen
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

Okay. That's helpful. Do you have any kind of estimate on how much the new store openings that you've done quite a lot recently, how much they have diluted margins or lowered margins? Do you have any kind of estimate on that?

Ville Ranta
CFO, Puuilo

Of course, we have our internal analysis done a lot about that, but I won't give any exact numbers. But yes, that's the main reason for the last year's EBITDA percentage drop. And like Juha said, we have invested more in the store openings. We have resourced them maybe more heavily than before. And also, we have invested in the personnel trainings more than ever last year. So of course, these factors are affecting the EBITDA margin. And one small comment maybe more on the EBITDA margin that we, like I said in my presentation, that we booked a small amount, but still an amount to the Q4 from the Hurrikaani business acquisition. So as you know, we hadn't any sales coming from the Hurrikaani deal to Q4, but a minor part of the costs.

Calle Loikkanen
Equity Analyst, Danske Bank

Okay. That's clear. Thank you very much. That's all my questions for now.

Operator

There are no more questions at this time. I hand the conference back to the speakers.

Juha Saarela
CEO, Puuilo

Good. Thank you for all the questions and joining us today. I want to thank all our customers for trusting us and all coworkers in Puuilo in their hard work. We had a really good year. I wish you all a great spring.

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