Good morning, warm welcome to Tokmanni second quarter result presentation. My name is Mika Rautiainen, today, together with me, presenting the second quarter results will be Tokmanni CFO, Mr. Tapio Arimo. The agenda for the presentation goes like this: I will first go through the key points. Tapio will come and present the key figures. Then we'll have a, like, short recap on the Tokmanni acquisition of Dollarstore AB, variety discount retailer in Sweden. Afterwards, it's time for questions. Let's start. During the second quarter, revenue grew by 4%, comparable gross profit improved to 36.1. Revenue grew by 4%, it was EUR 318.9 million. Like-for-like revenue increased by 1%.
The sales figures basically tells already that the customers are still suffering from weak buying power and weak consumer confidence in Finland. comparable gross profit was clearly better compared with the previous year, EUR 115 million, and the gross profit percentage was 36.1%, compared with previous years' 34.8%. comparable EBIT was slightly better, EUR 28.5 million compared with last year's EUR 27 million, 8.9% of revenue. Cash flow from operating activities was on a record high level, EUR 79.8 million. Earnings per share diluted was EUR 0.33. Some key points regarding the second quarter, some shadow for on top of the second quarter was bringing the fact that the spring season started pretty slowly in Finland.
Of course, in the very, very southern part of Finland, it was pretty much like normal, but let's say, already like 100 kilometers north from Helsinki, it was the winter times. Basically, the snow was off the ground by the end of May, which was slightly late for Finnish standards. As mentioned, cautious shopping behavior continued. We could clearly see that especially when it comes to a little bit more expensive items, let's say, over EUR 100 ticket, the sales was very small compared with previous year, clearly, the customers were thinking about whether they can afford buying a little bit more expensive products or not. The product availability, compared with the last years', was very good.
Share of private label sales was at a very high level, 33%. Due to a much more normal situation, much more normal, steady flow of goods, the efficiency of supply chain improved clearly. The value of inventories decreased to EUR 292 million, compared with previous year, EUR 314 million. We've been working quite a lot getting the inventory levels down again, and we can clearly see that now and when there is a steady flow of goods, we can definitely improve the efficiency in the supply chain. There is still a lot more room to improve with inventory values. Okay, this is a good start, but there is a lot that we can still improve, that we've noticed.
One of the success points again, was this Tokmanni Klubi, Tokmanni Club, the customer loyalty program. We have now around 2.6 million members. We'll be having the second anniversary for Tokmanni Club, and in two years' time, 2.6 million members, with a total population of 5.6 million people in Finland, I consider this as a very, very good achievement. At the moment, more than half of total sales come already from the club members. Clearly, this has been a success. If we look at the key figures regarding the first half of the year, revenue grew by 4.3% and was EUR 557 million. Like-for-like revenue increased by 1.7%.
According to our standards, very modest growth with sales, but it's very understandable due to the quite weak buying power of our customers. Gross profit, EUR 10 million better compared with last, compared with last year, and gross profit slightly better, 34.2 compared with 33.8 from previous year. Comparable EBIT approximately at the same level, EUR 26.2 million, 4.7% of revenue. Cash flow from operating activities amounted to also a record high level, EUR 66.8 million. Earnings per share diluted was EUR 0.26. The share of non-grocery and grocery products was exactly on the same level as last year. In grocery products, we can still see that the inflation is on a high level.
In non-grocery products, the purchase prices and sales prices have already started to decline. There is a clear difference with, with, with non-food and grocery products when it comes to the inflation or effects of inflation. Of course, with especially non-food products, the, the material prices are already down from from the previous year's peaks. It's very clear that the buying, buying prices, as well as the sales prices, will be coming down already, which is, of course, very, very good news for, for our customers. With groceries, the sales of pet products, for example, and washing and cleaning products increased clearly with non, non-grocery. Apparel was doing a very good job during the second quarter, as well as barbecue and menu products as well.
On the other hand, the sales of home appliances and home decoration decreased. When we look at the Finnish market, especially when it comes to department stores and hypermarkets, with the red curve, it's Tokmanni figures, ending the last quarter with 4% growth. The market, as you can see, was 7.1. We made a extensive analysis on this, and of course, the prices of grocery, as mentioned, grew during the first half of the year, 12.12%. The prices of food and alcoholic beverages grew by 13.6%.
Obviously, especially with hypermarkets, where the food section is the major part, it, of course, shows with with the, with the sales level as well, where where basically non-food products, non-grocery, where there is not that much inflation anymore. Obviously, it was the sales prices were more like on a steady level, so it shows with with the market shares. Basically, Based on our own estimation, the volumes have been coming down with, with all retailers in Finland, also with with Tokmanni. I would say that Tokmanni volumes are it's only a couple of percent , percent units down from previous year. We can see a lot bigger figures over there as well.
Anyway, as a total number, we would be losing market share, but when it comes to especially non-food products, I believe that we're keeping our market share. The key figures. Tapio, please, it's your turn.
Thank you, Mika, good morning to everyone on my behalf as well. If we start with the revenue, so as Mika mentioned, in the second quarter, our revenue grew by 4%, and the total revenue was EUR 318.9 million. Like for like, revenue turned positive and was 1%. Our B2B sales accounted for approximately 3.1% of sales, and our online sales for 1.7% of total sales. As you can see from the chart, over the last five years, we've managed to grow both Q2 and first half earnings every year, or net revenue, not earnings. Looking at our comparable gross profit, so this is really one of the bright spots of Q2.
In Q2, our comparable gross profit was EUR 115.1 million or 36.1% of revenue. This 36.1% is really the highest that we've had in the past five years, and this is a very, very good result in the current market conditions. The gross margin was positively affected by share of private labels, then the sale of spring season products, and other measures taken to improve profitability over the last few quarters. Also our gross profit has grown every year in the past five years or four years, both in the second quarter and also in the first half. We will look at our own product labels and direct imports.
As Mika mentioned, our own product label sales increased to 33% in quarter two, and also over the first half, we see a significant increase, and the share went up from 30.4% last half to 31.7% this half. Also our direct imports, the percentage increased slightly, both during the second quarter and during the first half. Looking at our operating expenses, and this is where we are struggling a little bit at the moment due to the high inflation. Our comparable operating expenses during the second quarter were 21.2% of revenue, or EUR 67.7 million, which is an increase of EUR 4.7 million over the previous year.
The relative increase in expenses was particularly affected by the real estate costs, and these, like other costs, were, were really driven higher by, by the inflationary environment. Our personal expenses were 12.4% of revenue, or EUR 39.6 million, an increase of, of EUR 3 million over the previous year. Here, the major impact comes from the EUR 400 one-time payment that we paid out in April, and then the 3.88% salary increase across the, the personnel. The total impact of these increases in Q2 was approximately EUR 2.1 million. Majority of this EUR 2.1 million was from the one-time lump sum payment of EUR 400 per employee.
Also, if you look at our comparable operating expenses over the last 5 years, you can see a clear trend, and this is something that we are constantly working on, and hopefully we'll get also a little bit tailwinds now in these operating expense increases as the inflation seems to be cooling down in the Euro area and also in Finland. Looking at our comparable EBIT, in the second quarter, we had a comparable EBIT of EUR 28.5 million, which is an increase of EUR 1.5 million over the previous year. Also our comparable EBIT margin increased very slightly to 8.9%.
Here again, the, the increase in the operating expenses was a major factor contributing to the, let's say, s- lower increase in EBIT compared to the increase in the gross profit margin. Looking a little bit at our inventories. As Mika mentioned, we've been working very hard to bring down the level of the inventories, and I'm pleased to report that we have had a significant cut in the value of inventory since second quarter last year. At the moment, or end of June, we had inventory of EUR 292 million, which is down about EUR 20 million from the situation a year ago.
Also worth mentioning that this includes now the Click Shoes inventory as, as well as the, let's say, increases in, in purchasing prices, so that the, let's say, the volume of inventory has gone down even more than the value of inventory. Our financing situation at the end of June, our total interest-bearing debt was EUR 461.9 million, of which EUR . 1292 million was, was real debt, and then EUR 332.8 million was, was this IFRS 16 lease liabilities. Our total ratio of net debt to comparable EBITDA, rolling 12 months, was 2.8, up slightly from a year ago, 2.6, but still well below our long-term target.
Here, it's good to mention that as a result of the Dollarstore acquisition, this ratio will go over our long-term target in the short- term, but obviously, we have this target, and at the moment, there's no plans to change it, so we will do our best to bring that total debt level down then under this 3.2 over the course of the coming quarters. Our financial position was very strong at the end of Q2, so we had over EUR 212 million in withdrawable funds, so consisting of loan agreements, financial institutions, and then a commercial paper program. Looking at our cash flow from operating activities, this was again, a very good result, both in the second quarter as well as the first half.
over the last five years comparison, we achieved record, record cash flow from operating activities, both in the second quarter and the first half. This was particularly impacted by our inventory management results. Looking at our capital expenditure. Our net capital expenditure in Q2 was EUR 15 million, and in the first half, a total of EUR 33.2 million, and there's increase in both, both numbers from a year ago. Obviously, these numbers include the acquisitions that we have done during the first half. We acquired the Syyskenk ä Varastomyymälä in Jyväskylä, then of this Finnish footwear store chain, Click Shoes and Shoe House Oy, as well as, most recently, the Catmandoo brand and its inventory.
In addition to acquisitions, of course, we are still investing in the new warehouse or logistics center, and the total investment there is expected to be around EUR 65 million, and we are still expecting the warehouse to be completed by the end of the year. As of the end of June, the total investment into the warehouse was EUR 41.1 million. As told previously, we will sell the facility and become a lessee in the building then as soon as it's finished or very shortly after it's finished. All right, that was it for the finance part, and now welcome back, Mika, to talk about the strategy.
Thank you very much, Tapio. Yes, about Tokmanni strategy for 2021 to 2025. When we launched this strategy, we set very, very ambitious targets. The revenue target, 1.5 billion EUR in 2025. As you can see from last year, we're lagging a bit with this phase regarding the target for 2025. When it comes to the EBIT target of 150 million EUR in 2025, there, we're lagging a little bit more regarding the target of 2025. What we also said is that during this strategy period, we will be examining the possibilities of an international partnership or acquisition or merger. Now, with this situation that we have, basically, we've renewed the guidance for 2023.
We expect revenue to be EUR 1.37 billion-EUR 1.44 billion during this year, and comparable EBIT is expected to be EUR 90 million-EUR 110 million. We are well on our way to reach the targets of 2025, and that's basically because of the acquisition of Swedish variety discount retailer, Dollarstore AB. As mentioned, for several years, we've already been examining the markets in the Nordics, especially in Sweden. I have to say that we're more than happy with the acquisition of Dollarstore AB. From our perspective, it's a perfect match between Tokmanni and Dollarstore AB. Of course, it's a perfect match.
We're both working on with low prices, and both companies we're having the best price images in our countries. Also when it comes to Dollarstore AB, I have to say that, according to our information, Dollarstore AB has been one of the fastest growing retailer in the Swedish market. That tells us a lot about how customers think about Dollarstore AB. They seem to appreciate Dollarstore AB very much. Of course, that's one of the key reasons for the acquisition as well. It has a really, really good future, Dollarstore AB. Let's take a look at the, well, a short recap on the acquisition.
We had the closing this week, Tuesday, in Stockholm. The acquisition price was SEK 2 billion and SEK 28 million, and which is basically EUR 173 million, and it was fully financed with the bank debt. We expect the value of identified synergies amount over to over EUR 15 million. We're talking about net synergies over here, so obviously, I could imagine that this year there will be some additional costs when we start working together. This basically, this net synergies is basically minimum target for us. Yeah, we expect that some to be fully implemented within 30, 30 months. I said, we've already started the work to get the synergies done, or, or, to achieve the synergies.
Obviously, it will take some time for this year, we don't have any high expectations regarding the synergies, but definitely next year we will already get the first results. As mentioned, it's Dollarstore AB is growing fast. Dollarstore AB has really great plans also to grow, and customers appreciate the Dollarstore AB very, very much. Dollarstore AB in Sweden, Big Dollar in, in, in Denmark. And the price image, image is one of the best in the countries. In. Well, I have to say, in Sweden, in Denmark, with two stores, there is no real price image yet. Anyway, in the Swedish market, Dollarstore AB does have the one of the best price images.
Obviously, we will continue as is with the, with the, with the brands. Tokmanni in Finland, Dollarstore AB in Sweden, and Big Dollar in Denmark. Dollarstore AB has really been doing a great job. Definitely with the management of Anders Kind, the CEO of Dollarstore AB, and the management team, they will definitely continue working to, to take Dollarstore AB also to the future success and the future expansion. There is a clear strategic rationale with with Tokmanni and Dollarstore AB start working together. First of all, we will actually starting from the first of August, so this week we already formed one of the leading variety discount retailers in, in the Nordics. With the acquisition, of course, it will change the situation for Tokmanni.
Tokmanni has until now, Tokmanni has been a very domestic company in Finland. We have 200 stores. In our strategy, we said that there will be space for more than 220 stores. In a way, we did, of course, understand that it's a little bit limited picture that we're giving for Tokmanni future. Obviously, obviously, together with Dollarstore AB, it will be a completely different story, and it will be a natural step, next step for building a solid platform for a future further growth. Through this combination, Tokmanni and Dollarstore AB, basically, while combining our strengths, we are able to serve customers much better with product offering.
First of all, Dollarstore AB has great products that I'm sure that we can basically sell also over here in Finland. There will be new products for the Finnish customers and vice versa. Of course, we do have very, very nice private label ranges, for example, that we can offer to Dollarstore AB to also improve their assortment. Obviously, with bigger volumes, bigger opportunities, we're also able to show even lower prices for our customers and better assortment. Of course, the we will definitely benefit from the combined scale in purchasing and distribution. We already have very, very clear understanding where we can find fantastic synergies based on the basically all the examinations that we did during the due diligence process.
Of course, Dollarstore AB has been active, very active, even I would say, aggressive with the Swedish market, expanding, with the expansion, with new stores and so on. It's been really great to follow the expansion of Dollarstore AB in Sweden, and of course, in Denmark as well. We definitely, we do believe that we are able to support Dollarstore AB in the further growth, also and expansion. We are able to bring a lot of support due to the fact that, with 200 stores in Finland, we've already experienced the pitfalls and this kind of thing. We're able to help Dollarstore to avoid this kind of issues with their expansion. The focus for this year, for the five months, obviously achieving synergies.
Synergy benefits is now our number one priority. We've started the work already. In a way, it's also quite clear since we do have exactly the same product groups in our stores. A little bit different setup, but we are able to definitely get some benefits from these synergies. Of course, Dollarstore will continue its expansion, and it will proceed as according to the plan. Definitely we'll be doing the support for Dollarstore expansion. I believe that there will be some new stores opening already during this second half, if I remember correct. The next opening will be in Denmark in September already. Yeah, the whole process of this acquisition was very quick.
Actually, yesterday, we've started the preparation of a joint strategy for 2024, 2026, and obviously, we will be telling about the strategy in the next result presentations or, actually, I would say it will be the next capital markets day where we will be presenting this. This was the short recap on the Tokmanni Dollarstore collaboration, and thank you for that. Now, operator, it's time for questions, please. Tapio, please join me to answer all the, especially the difficult questions. I'll take the easy ones.
Okay.
Thank you.
Good.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question or make a contribution on today's call, please press star one on your telephone keypad. We'll pause just for a moment to allow everyone an opportunity to signal for questions. We'll take our first question from Nicklas Skogman from Handelsbanken. Please go ahead. Your line is open.
Good morning, everyone.
Good morning, Nicklas.
I have a couple of questions.
Good morning, Nicklas.
Good morning. Good morning.
I have practiced.
First of all, on, first of all, on the changed guidance, from Tuesday, or Wednesday, maybe it was. It looks like the midpoint is basically going up by EUR 7 million, and now that's a little less than half of the EUR 60 million that Dollarstore generated last year, which then would, at first glance, sort of correspond to the five months of worth of profits. However, for you, I mean, your EBIT is generated roughly 60% of the annual EBIT is generated in Q4. I was just trying to see if Dollarstore either has a more even distribution of profits or that there is an underlying cut to the full year guidance with the updated guidance.
Yes. First of all, it's, it's a, slightly different setup with Dollarstore and, and, and Tokmanni. Tokmanni is more seasonal, retailer compared with, with Dollarstore. Obviously, this is, one, one part of the, of the discussion. It's more like a steady, the, the, EBIT structure for, for the calendar year with Dollarstore, compared with, with Tokmanni. Tapio, would you like to add on a little bit with the guidance?
Yeah, obviously, with the guidance, you know, we haven't been able to meet Dollarstore very much until, you know, after the transaction was announced and closed. Obviously, we're in the early stages, and them being a private company, they haven't really put that much focus on forecasting in the past. That coupled with the five months out of 12 months, and like Mika said, the seasonality is a bit weaker at Dollarstore compared to Tokmanni, and then the, let's say, some expected extra costs as we get to know each other and work together. That's the result. I would say that there is no change in the way the old Tokmanni guidance or the Finnish Tokmanni guidance, that this change was due to the acquisition.
Okay, perfect. Very clear. The second one is on. You mentioned the purchase prices on non-food items are now lower, year-over-year. Should we expect that to gradually sort of become more of a benefit, and in particular, considering the new freight agreement, which I expect would start to kick in towards end of Q3 and in Q4?
Hold on a second. I'm not sure whether I got the question right. Could you please repeat that, Nicklas?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. On, on the gross margin in the quarter, which improved? You mentioned one of the reasons are the lower.
Yeah, okay.
purchasing prices for non-food. I thought, is this because I feel that must have contributed to, you know, after seven quarters of declining gross margin, that's now improving. I'm thinking, will that be an even bigger factor going forward? 'Cause, you know, clearance sales can vary by quarter and the private label sales, perhaps, even so. Will that improve further, i.e., lower purchase prices? Then in addition, will you get the benefit from the lower freight costs?
Yes. First of all, we are already benefiting from the lower freight costs. Second thing is that, yes, we do believe that the inflation will start going down, not only with non-food products but also with groceries. It's, it's, it's, it's not gonna be that fast, but they will be going down. I would say that it's still one of the key issues regarding the improved cross margin during the second quarter was the growth of private private label products. Clearly, we can see that customers are very, very interested in our private labels due to the fact that they're much lower, lower price, compared with the A brands.
The, the, the customer's buying power, it's, until now, it's been getting worse all the time. Somehow we're here now in a situation where we believe that it will start getting better, but the, the phase will be quite slow. We expect that, for example, our private labels will be doing a good job in, in, in the coming months as well. For sure, it's the success of private labels that had a quite big impact on the improved gross margin. Tapio, would you like to add on this?
Yes. As Mika said, that was one of the driving factors. Of course, if you look at the last year's figures, we didn't have, you know, a very good situation in the second half last year. We are hoping that the situation will be a little bit better this year.
Good. I think those were all my questions, actually. Thanks a lot.
Okay. Thank you, Nicklas.
Thank you. Thank you. Once again, ladies and gentlemen, if you would like to ask a question, please press star one. All right, it appears there is no further questions at this time. I'd like to turn the conference back to the host for any additional or closing remarks. Thank you.
Okay, thank you very much, operator. Yes, thank you. In the next result presentation for the third quarter, there will be the first time Tokmanni Group will be reporting then figures regarding Tokmanni Finland and Dollar Store Sweden, Big Dollar, Denmark. Anyway, Tapio will then tell us all more about the reporting, anyway, that will be the first time Tokmanni Group will be reporting the full figures of all these three countries. Thank you very much.
Thank you.