Hello, and welcome everyone to the Byggmax Group AB interim report Q2 2025. My name is Becky, and I'll be your operator today. During the presentation, you can register a question by pressing star followed by 1 on your keypad. If you change your mind, please press star followed by 2. I will now hand over to your host, Karl Sandlund, CEO, to begin. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Again, a very warm welcome to this conference call where we will present the Q2 report for 2025 for Byggmax Group AB. As you heard, I'm Karl Sandlund, the CEO, and with me is Helena Nathhorst, our CFO. We do as usual, we have a presentation available on our website, and we try to guide you to the correct page in that presentation during the call. I begin with a brief business update, and then you will hear from Helena and more Q2 financials. Once we're finished, we open up for your questions as usual. Let's start and move to page number two in the presentation on our website. As you know, the second quarter marks the beginning of our high season.
Those familiar with us know that the underlying demand patterns in the sales in the second and third quarters are significantly higher than in the first and fourth. Throughout the spring this year, we have placed strong efforts on preparing for this high season across all parts of the group, and we are now seeing the results from this. The ramp-up from low to high season was well executed, and our operational performance during the quarter has been strong. Our like-for-like sales is 7.3% higher than last year. The sales development was quite similar in Sweden and in the rest of the Nordics, but changes in currency exchange rates impact sales increase outside of Sweden. Total sales increased by 5.6%. We see that several of our prioritized categories developed positively. For example, timber, building boards, and paint.
We also saw continued positive development in our improved offering of customized online products. Quarterly growth was solid overall, though performance varied throughout the period. The quarter started off strongly, supported by early spring. However, the overall market climate continued to be shaped by cautious consumers in response to global uncertainty. We have, as you see, a high gross margin in the quarter, and there are two main reasons for this. One is the fact that our financial stability has enabled order placement and payment, and the other is the improvements within e-commerce, especially logistics. Of course, increased sales and a strong gross margin mean better profitability. As you see, profitability continued to improve for the fifth consecutive quarter, and the EBITDA margin is two percentage points higher than last year in the second quarter. It's 10.8%. In addition to improved results, we continued to strengthen the balance sheet.
We reduced both net debt and leverage, and net debt/EBITDA was 0.8, down from 1.5 at the same time a year ago. Overall, our preparations for the high season ramp-up, and we remain fully focused for the remainder of the season, of course. Before getting into more details when it comes to the business update, just a short overview if some of you maybe don't know us that well. We were founded back in 1993. Today, we have 212 stores across four Nordic markets. Our core is a strong selection of products for home renovation and maintenance, primarily to consumers. We offer everything from building materials, paint, tiles, flooring, and more. Our in-store assortment is enhanced by Homeline, providing an even wider range, but maybe more if they offer us a home delivery of heavy building materials and also customized online products.
We are a true discount and offering the best prices required to maintain the best possible costs in everything we do, from our store design to how we work through our processes. In addition to the Byggmax brand, we also have Right Size Tiles in Norway, focusing on tiles and bathrooms, and [Foreign language] , which offers tiles and buildings for home and garden. On page four, you see that our sales for the last 12 months was SEK 6.2 billion, and we delivered SEK 325 million in EBITDA. That's an EBITDA margin of 5.3%, some 2.4 % points higher than a year ago. Our business model is efficient with high cash generation, and this is seen in a strong cash flow, as you will hear more about later. We have a strong mix of physical stores and e-commerce.
Currently, we have about 80% of our total sales to our online sales channels. On page five, we have some general macro context. As we all know, after a couple of challenging years, we began to see an improvement of macro indicators during the second part of 2024, with inflation back to more normal levels and gradually improving consumer sentiment. The last couple of months, there have been some more general global uncertainty impacting consumer confidence. I guess that the general view is that consumers continue to be cautious, with increased household savings, and the overall recovery is still stagnant. However, it's positive to see that house transactions continue to develop in the right direction. Together with lower interest rates and improved real wages, those are historical drivers for renovation. It is very hard to predict the future.
While we follow the market development carefully to position ourselves in the best possible way, we have short lead times, and we are used to quickly adapting our business to different levels of demand. We have been able to successfully navigate through the last quarters. If you turn to page six, I would actually give you some examples of that because operational control and flexibility are among Byggmax's core strengths. Our ability to shift quickly between seasons is a fundamental capability. This year, perhaps more than before, we have stayed focused on this core. We have dedicated time and energy to strengthen our existing business. As you know, sales in the second quarter are more than twice as high as in the first, reflecting the seasonal nature of our industry because consumers carry out more renovation projects during the warmer months.
For us, that means we need to be fully prepared to meet the surge in demand without losing quality. To manage this, we have built for years strong capabilities in hiring, in adapting work schedules, and maintaining flexible supply chains with frequent deliveries of goods, all to ensure a smooth and scalable operation. Looking back at the quarter, we are satisfied with the ramp-up, and we continue to have strong in-store operations with low waste, satisfied customers, and well-functioning supply flows in this quarter. Being prepared for a high season also means securing that we have the right products in stock if you look at page number seven. Optimizing inventory has been a key focus area for us since more than a year. It started with the need to adapt inventory levels to a lower sales volume. Now it is also about facilitating growth while securing capital efficiency.
We have, as you have heard me say before, conducted a thorough review of our entire product range to fine-tune the inventory levels with even greater precision. For high-priority items, we have raised our stock levels while reducing inventory for products with lower turnover. Just to give a few examples, the stocks of timber, drywall, and paint are all up 15%, 20% compared to last year. At the same time, our total inventory value is lower than last year. We have put a lot of effort into securing smart buildup of the inventory for the season, resulting in good product availability and well-stocked stores. This has been one of the drivers of core growth. In addition, this early ordering and also payment has had a positive impact on our gross margin.
On page eight, another positive contributor to the gross margin this quarter is the set of improvements we made to our e-commerce logistics. Our improved structure has enhanced our telling capabilities and increased overall efficiency. As a result, we have improved our freightness. Additionally, we have optimized our assortment online by phasing out selected non-core products. Finally, we continue to see positive growth in our offering of customized online products, including garden buildings, doors, windows, and more. We see that this initiative has been positively received by our customers and supports both margin and sales in these channels. Several different areas of improvements when it comes to e-commerce. The same goes for stores, looking at page nine. As always, we strive to improve the store experience. Ahead of this season, nearly half of our stores were rearranged to better showcase our assortment.
We see that the response from customers has been positive. With updated layouts, improved customer flow, and lower shelves, it's now easier for customers to navigate the store and find what they're looking for. At the same time, we continue to invest in technology to make shopping with Byggmax simpler and even more intuitive, both online and in stores. To meet the demand for guidance from our customers, we have launched, for example, a beta version of an AI chat tool that provides personalized advice and product recommendations directly on our website. Together with redesigned customer service pages, getting guidance and answers to questions will be even easier for our customers in the future. Also in the stores, we have further improved the handheld devices, both when it comes to sales flow and also when it comes to product information.
These initiatives are all part of a broader effort to create an even smoother and more customer-focused experience across all channels. During the quarter, we opened one new store in southern Stockholm. The new store complements our existing network in the region and improves accessibility for both new and returning customers. Even if this is a quarter primarily focused on operations, we have also made meaningful commercial improvements this year across channels, and we continue to strengthen the customer experience. To summarize, before handing over to Helena and more financials, the preparations we made ahead of a high season have paid off. We have had a smooth transition from low to high season with strong operational execution and also a range of commercial improvements. Thank you, and over to Helena.
Thank you, Karl. I'll talk you through the financial development during the second quarter, starting with a longer-term perspective. On slide 10, we look at our rolling 12-month performance over the past three years. After a period of declining sales and extensive cost-saving measures, we have now delivered a fourth consecutive quarter of organic growth. However, as Karl pointed out in today's presentation, growth varied throughout the quarter, and general global uncertainty continues to influence cautious consumer behavior. What is particularly encouraging is that we have a consistent improvement in EBITDA margins now for the fifth consecutive quarter. This margin expansion is a result of the disciplined execution and structural improvements presented across the business. On the next page, we will look more closely into sales figures and margin improvements in the quarter.
Our quick focus on improving assortment and availability of core products in stores has contributed to a top-line growth of 5.6%. Adjusted for challenges, namely from a weak individual corona, like-for-like growth exceeds 7% across all regions. It's 7.4% in Sweden and 7.2% in the other Nordics. The increased sales are combined with an improved gross margin. We have a gross margin improvement of 0.6 percentage points versus last year. That margin expansion was driven by early supplier payments and lock-in cash discounts and improvements in our e-commerce offering. This includes assortment streamlining, optimizing off-site terms, and the logistics setup. The combination of stable sales and improved margin has a clear impact on the bottom line, as illustrated on the next slide. EBITDA reached SEK 237 million, an increase of SEK 53 million compared to the second quarter last year.
EBITDA margin rose to 10.8%, up from 8.8%, highlighting the impact of our focus on margin and cost discipline. The improvement in the quarter is mainly driven by higher volumes combined with the gross margin expansion. We continue to manage costs with discipline. After two years of significant cost reductions, we have kept overall operating expenses to secure scalability. Cost is up, mainly related to salary increases and store personnel to secure service hours in high season. Moderate investment levels have also contributed to lower depreciation in the quarter. On the next page, we can see how the performance translates into cash flow and strengthened balance sheet. In the quarter, we saw continued strong cash generation. Cash flow before working capital changed to improve by $77 million, reflecting the stronger operating results.
As expected, we had temporarily negative working capital effects from reduced accounts payable due to early payments for margin-enhancing discounts. Investment levels remained low and disciplined. We continue to invest in areas that support the customer experience, such as electric spotlights, store layouts, and digital tools, while at the same time ensuring that the store network is well maintained. We have also opened a new store in southern Stockholm during the quarter, and we continue to evaluate our store portfolio, looking for new locations. Our performance puts us in a solid financial position. On the last slide, as we move deeper into the high season, we entered from a position of strength. Our net debt/EBITDA now stands at 0.8 times, down from 1.5 times last year and well below our long-term target of 2.5 times. This reduction reflects both improved earnings and disciplined capital allocation over the past 24 months.
We maintain access to committed credit facilities and benefit from strong relationships with our banks, ensuring stability and flexibility going forward. That concludes the update from my side, and I'll hand back to Karl before we move on to questions.
Thank you, Helena. Please move to slide, I think it's number 16 in the presentation, our key messages again. As you have heard, we continue to increase sales and profitability in the second quarter of 2025. Like-for-like sales up 7.3% in the quarter, and we have a stronger sales acquisition. Leverage rated down to 0.8. Last year's strategic efforts secured a strong platform, and our preparations ahead of this season paid off. The transition from low to high season was successfully carried out with strong operational control and several commercial improvements at the same time. Going forward, we are targeting three things, and it's staying close to our customers. It's driving sales and doing so with high operational efficiency. We continue to focus on simplicity and speed in execution, which gives us the flexibility we need in our day-to-day operations.
With this clear operational focus, efficient supply flows, and improved in-store experience, we are now continuing to focus on the high season. Our dedicated teams across the Nordics, they do a fantastic job every day in making sure to help our customers to succeed, to make them succeed with their home improvements code. Thank you for your attention, and we are happy to answer any questions. Let's open up the floor for questions, please.
Thank you. If you wish to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad now. If for any reason you want to remove your question from the queue, please press star followed by two. When preparing to ask your question, please ensure your device is unmuted locally. Our first question comes from Benjamin Wahlstedt from ABG. Your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Good morning to those who can hear me. First of all, I was wondering, what is your view of the overall market growth in the quarter, please?
Hi, Benjamin. Thank you. In the future, we noticed that the market continues to be characterized by uncertainty with cautious consumers and increased household savings. At the same time, key macro indicators like interest rates, inflation, and housing transactions have improved compared to a year ago. Against that backdrop, the quarter started off strongly, partly thanks to an early spring that gave a boost in demand. That effect was strongest in the beginning of the period, which means that the growth for the full quarter was lower than the strong start would suggest.
Perfect. Following on that question, the sort of keeps you strong, you note Easter was in April of this year, compared to March last year. Any idea of how that might have impacted you? I assume it's a positive, sort of one-off calendar effect in Q2.
I think, you know, in the combination maybe of Easter moving from different times, but also the fact that the spring came early to the Nordic region this year gave an extra boost in demand just in the beginning of this quarter.
Are you able to quantify the positive Easter impact?
No, we don't report. We are happy with the overall growth in the quarter. It's 7.3% overall, like-for-like. We're happy with the overall growth. We don't report sales by month. That's comparisons that are affected by factors such as weather, holidays, campaign timing, and number of training days. We consider that sales were strong in the beginning of the quarter, but we are happy with the overall growth in the quarter.
Yeah, fair enough. It's tricky to quantify exactly. Another one on the gross margin. Since your balance sheet has improved, you've also started talking more about cash discounts supporting your gross margin. I was wondering if you could give us an idea of how your use of cash discounts has developed in recent quarters, and are there more savings to be had from this use of cash discounts, please?
Yes, absolutely. I would say that we have, since we have a strong balance sheet and a fairly low CapEx and been really focused on preparing for the high season, as usual this year, we have started with a cash discount earlier. It has given us a flexibility to trigger it already at the ramp-up, while we normally have it more weighted towards the third quarter of the year. There are possibilities for further margin-enhancing discounts. In general, volume drives possibilities for these kinds of improvements.
Perfect. Thank you. Could you remind us, were you getting any cash discounts in Q2 last year?
Yes, but non-material.
Right. In Q3 last year, savings from cash discounts were material, right?
Yes.
Perfect. I think that's all for me currently. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Benjamin.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. We currently have no further questions, so I'll hand back to Karl for closing remarks.
Thank you a lot for your participation, and I hope we wish you a wonderful summer. If not before, we are really looking forward to meeting you again after our third quarter. Thank you.
This concludes today's call. Thank you for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.