Good morning, and welcome to today's conference call, titled Third Quarter 2023 Interim Report for the Byggmax Group. My name is Ellen, and I'll be the call operator for today. All participant lines will be muted throughout the presentation, but at the end of the presentation, there'll be an opportunity to ask a question. If you'd like to ask a question at this time, please press Star followed by one on your telephone keypad. If at any point your question has been answered, or you change your mind and would like to revoke your question, please press Star followed by two on your telephone keypad. I'd now like to turn the call over to Karl Sandlund, CEO, to begin. Karl, please go ahead whenever you're ready.
Thank you. Thank you very much. Again, welcome to this conference call, where we will present Byggmax's report for the third quarter of 2023. I'm Karl Sandlund, and with me, I have Helena Nathhorst, our CFO. As mentioned, as usual, we will be speaking to a presentation that is available on our website, and Helena and myself will try to guide you to the right page during the call. To start with, I will give a short business update, and Helena will cover the financials. And as you heard after that, I will come back with a short summary, and then we'll open up for questions. But let's start and move to page number 2 in the presentation.
This, the third quarter is part of our high season, and it has been a quarter with strong operational focus in all parts of our company, where our employees across the Nordic countries have made their utmost to make sure that our customers can fulfill their home improvement projects. As expected, the consumer market continued to be weak during the quarter. For the past year, we have seen hesitant consumers, especially when they come to the larger projects and investments. And therefore, we have continued to adapt our business accordingly. Cost efficiency is really important in these times, and it is a vital part of the Byggmax's DNA. Despite of high inflation and more stores, we have managed to lower our costs substantially in the quarter.
In addition, we have worked successfully on adapting our inventory levels to lower sales volume. The inventory is some 300 million SEK below Q3 last year, and together with a lower investment level, this has resulted in a strength in cash flow. The headline financials are as follows: Sales in Q3 decreased by 14% to just below 2 billion SEK. This is a similar development as the one that we saw in the second quarter of the year. We have slightly less customers, but the decline is primarily driven by a mix towards smaller projects. The larger renovations are postponed, which give a lower volume, and in addition, lower prices on timber products have a negative impact on the revenue in the quarter.
The gross margin was 34.1, and this is a strong margin from a historical point of view, and it shows that the work we are doing when it comes to continuously improving our assortment and work actively with purchasing have effect. And the EBITA amounted to SEK 210 million in the quarter, margin of 10.7%. The EBITA is SEK 78 million lower than last year. So all in all, a solid performance in a continued weak market. If we continue to page number 3, where you see some performance indicators on a moving 12-month basis after our third quarter, we see that the net sales, the last 12 months, is SEK 6.3 billion, which is 13% lower than the full year of 2022.
And as mentioned, the reduction is driven by a weak trend toward the consumer market. We continue to have a high share of e-commerce in the group at 19%, slightly lower than previous year, and we see that more customers are returning to more of a pre-pandemic behavior and visit the physical store to a slightly larger extent. A focus on reducing inventory in combination of adaptation of the CapEx level secured strong operating cash flow at SEK 843 million the last 12 months. Some 300 million stronger than the cash flow we had in the full year of 2022. And finally, we have 8 more stores than 12 months ago, 209 stores in total. And during the quarter, we opened 1 store in Valdemarsvik, Sweden.
On page four, you see some of the drivers for the market development. We continue to see a low Consumer Confidence Index in all Nordic countries. Continued inflation and increased interest rates make the consumer still more hesitant, particularly related to their larger projects. In addition, there's low activity in the housing market. The chart to the right shows Swedes' intent to renovate, which continue to be at a very low level, so people postpone their larger projects. At the same time, we see that the customers, they still want to take care of and improve their homes. Products related to smaller projects develop relatively better than the heavy building materials. Examples are bathroom and paint categories, two areas where we have focused the last couple of years.
All in all, we estimate that the Nordic consumer market decreased by some approximately 15% compared to the same quarter last year. That is to a level clearly below the time before the pandemic. On page five, in these times, the Byggmax business model, which is based on low prices, perhaps more relevant than ever. The last couple of years, we have seen a general trend towards low price retailers across industries, and this is a model even more relevant in time of high inflation. In our industry, we are the low price leader, and customers who compare and see our low prices and experience our wide assortment, they tend to return to us, and that is the reason why we continue to strengthen our position.
In addition to having the lowest prices, we constantly are working on improving our customer offering. One recent example is the possibility for our customers to buy tinted paints on our site. It's a function where which we recently launched to be even more relevant also regarding the smaller projects. The customer can choose whatever color they want to, we mix it and, and either send it home to them or they can have it for pickup in store. If we continue and move to page six, as mentioned in the beginning, to adapt to the current market situation, we have worked hard on a number of areas, which is seen on this page. The first area is to continue to secure the industry's lowest operating costs.
As mentioned in the beginning, cost focus is a vital part of our DNA. Everything from how we design our stores, the carefully selected assortment, the operations of the store, our small central functions, all are designed around efficiency. The second area is to adapt inventory level to lower sales volume, and we are very pleased how this has developed during the quarter. The third area is to continuously optimize our assortment in a way, securing sound margins. And this involves everything from decide which product offers, source them to the right price, secure efficient logistics flows, and adapt the store and site to be able to sell the product to our customers, all to be able to offer attractive products at the lowest prices and good margins.
In addition to these three areas, our colleagues around the company have made a great effort during the quarter, securing that our stores have been ready for the customers, and we are happy to see that our customers they appreciate the store experience. In our customer satisfaction survey, we have noted record high scores during the quarter. Strong acknowledgments, I think, for our colleagues' efforts during the quarter. If we move to page seven to give some more details on the cost side. We are currently operating in an environment with high inflation, and of course, this increases our underlying operating costs. In addition, we have more stores, and we have more upgraded stores in the network.
With this in mind, we are very pleased with the development we show in the third quarter when it comes to the cost. Our operating cost, and that is excluding leases, is 13% lower than last year, despite more stores. When looking at the like-for-like cost base, we managed to reduce the cost by 19%, and that is from an already very low level. Having the lowest cost is really key to be able to offer the best prices. This is vital, but it's extra important in times with a weaker demand. This is enabled by new planning tools, efficient way of working in the store, more self-service possibilities, adjusted administration, and a reduced external cost.
In addition to this, our experience from changing between high and low season has helped us. In parts of our store network, we have made an early transition towards more low season setup than normally. All in all, a substantial reduction of cost from a low starting point. Next page, please. Yes, as we have mentioned during the call, and Helena will come back to it as well, adapting the inventory to sales volume is crucial. On page 8, you see the development on our total inventory, both in the central warehouses and in our stores. Managing and balancing the inventories level is essential. We need to have enough product in stock so our customers can get what they need in our 200+ stores.
And at the same time, reducing inventory is one important lever to improve cash flow and strengthen the balance sheet. After Q1 this year, we had an inventory level similar to the one in Q1 2022. But during spring and summer, we have really focused on reducing, adapting the inventory, and as you see, this has resulted in a significantly lower level than the previous year. And by the end of this third quarter, our inventory is more than SEK 300 million lower or 18% lower than the last same period last year. And in addition to adapting the stock levels for each and every category, efforts have been made to improve logistics setups, to enable smaller volumes to be shipped, and so on. And-...
The reduction in inventory and the CapEx level have secured a strong cash flow again in the quarter, which Helena will come back to in just a minute. Before that, on slide nine, as you have seen, as you have heard, we continue to deliver a strong gross margin in the quarter, about 34%. It's almost in line with last year's margin, where we had a substantial volume of high margin energy products, and it's only beaten by the third quarter in 2021. Active sourcing, purchasing, in combination with continuously optimizing our assortment to be relevant to more categories, mitigate for negative volume effects in the quarter. We summarize this as a continued strong gross margin, despite a very weak market. With that, I hand over to Helena to cover our financials.
Yes, thank you. We are on page 10, the sales development in the third quarter. As mentioned, customers are cautious and moving from executing our larger projects to clearly having the interest of smaller home improvement projects. It's a weaker market, and we see a decrease also from lower prices on timber compared to last year. Sales is down by 13.8% in the quarter. At the end of the period, we had 209 stores, and we have increased by 8 stores over 12 months, and in this quarter, 1 new stores and a closure of 2 stores in Norway. The opening is Valbo, Gävle in Sweden.
Our business model is combining e-com and a broad countrywide store network, where we see that collect in store is still appreciated option, and we have a stable ratio of e-com of 19%. If we move to page 11, we have the reported P&L for the quarter, where we have the sales of SEK 1.96 billion. The gross margin is in line, close to last year, on 34.1%. We see a stable product margin, but slightly an offset from negative scale impact from MP volumes and the logistics solutions. Continuing further down, we have on the cost side, our OpEx has decreased to SEK 314 million by SEK 48 million, that is 13%.
This is a really strong focus, not only in this quarter, but throughout the year. In the quarter, we have also, in addition to sort of less recurring nature costs, we have 2 closures, and we have some costs related to the store in Stenungsund from a landslide. And we have the new stores that increased the cost base by SEK 7 million. So in all, a very strong cost conscious quarter, and we have an EBITA or that decreased to SEK 210 million. It's a stable performance in a weak market, where we have continued to have a balanced gross margin and very strong activities on the cost side. Next page, we have our cash flow and net debt.
Third quarter, again, is a quarter with very high attention to our financial position, and we have improved our net debt position by SEK 49 million. The cash flow from operating activities is SEK 174 million. That's strengthened versus the same period last year, and it's mainly by working capital activities on inventory levels in the period. Net debt further improved versus Q2, and we have a net debt excluding IFRS 16 of SEK 630 million. This is obviously, as mentioned, high focus on working capital, but also reduced CapEx. We are down by SEK 32 million CapEx in the quarter versus last year. Back to you.
Thank you, Helena. And to summarize, before we open for questions, on page 13, a couple of points. Well, the consumer market continues to be weak with hesitant customers. Large renovations and other projects are postponed, while the smaller home improvement projects develop relatively better. In this type of market, price becomes even more important for the customers, and the Byggmax's position as the low price alternative with many stores close to customers is really a strength. We see that the customers appreciate our core concept, and, and despite the very weak market, we have almost as many customers as last year...
In this market, of course, it's vital to act, and we have delivered strongly on our prioritized actions, securing the lowest possible cost, adjusting the inventory level, and to continuously optimize assortment to secure both sales and gross margin. The result, they are evident. We have a lower cost base in the quarter, despite more stores and high inflation. We have a strong gross margin, and we have strength in our cash flow balance sheet compared to last year. At the same time, the weak market impacts our sales, and which is down 14%, versus last year. We delivered the EBITA, as you heard, of 210 million SEK, which is 78 million SEK lower than the corresponding quarter in 2022.
Continued uncertainty regarding the future market development makes maintained cost control still important. And that is something that is really deeply rooted in Byggmax. And in addition, the focus on inventory and balance sheet continues. Byggmax has a really efficient sourcing model with short lead times, and when the market stabilizes and strengthens again, we will be able to act very quickly and secure a rapid ramp up. And with that, I think we conclude the presentation part of this conference call, and I turn to operator to open up for questions.
Thank you. We'll now enter our Q&A session. As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Our first question comes from Benjamin Wahlstedt, from ABG Sundal Collier. Benjamin, your line is now open. Please, go ahead.
Good morning, guys. So first of all, I was wondering if you could comment on your like-for-like growth relative to the market here. In the past quarters, we've been spoiled to see you outperform the market consistently, perhaps on the back of your discounter position. Is this a development you think could continue?
Thank you, Benjamin. Yes, we think it continued also in the third quarter. We continued to strengthen our position. When looking at the market figures, one also need to think a little bit about the different baskets in the market versus our assortment and store concept, and so on. When it comes to categories where we really are the main supplier in the heavy building materials, we continue to strengthen our position. We see that price is becoming more important during these times and that the customers they come to return to us, and they appreciate our concept. So yes, we continue to strengthen our position.
Perfect. Thank you. In Q2, you talked about being able to run low season staffing for an extended period, and you noted that you've done the same in Q3 during the presentation here. Is it possible to comment on when the low season started or to give us an indication of sort of what the run rate personal cost would be? I guess, yeah. For how large part of the quarter have you been able to run low season staffing, I guess, is the question.
Yeah, I understand. Yeah, as you all know, we have our Q1 and Q4 are really the low season quarters, while Q2 and Q3 are the high season ones, with more customers, longer opening hours and more staff in the stores. In some parts of our store portfolio, not the entire one, we have adapted the manning levels at the beginning of the high season and also the end of the high season. So we have, as you said, made a transition towards more of a low season set up in some parts of the store network during the end of the third quarter. Not the entire one, but the end of it.
It's a little bit hard to say the exact manning level in different months, but this is at least the feeling of, you know, during the last part of the quarter, in some parts of the store network, we have reduced to a more of a low season setup.
Yeah, perfect. And then, it would be interesting to hear your view as well on your market position in small projects relative to your legacy large projects. As the market becomes more, I guess, small product dominated, will you be able to defend your market share compared to, I don't know, competition?
Yeah, we believe we will. I think, you know, what we see now is that larger investment, larger projects are postponed. I don't think, you know, they have been removed, but rather maybe postponed. So this will go up, and it will go down with the market. We are, as you say, we are from a heavy building material position historically, but the last couple of years, we have focused on widening our assortment, making us more relevant in also in the smaller projects. One example is paint, another is tiles, where we also both acquired a company, Right Price Tiles. So we are strengthening our position in these kind of categories, and we see really good sales development in these kind of categories. We believe that we can continue with that and make us more relevant in more categories also going forward.
Thank you, Benjamin. Our next question comes from Arttu Heikura from Inderes Equity Research. Arttu, your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Hello, this is Arttu Heikura from Inderes Equity Research. Do you hear me?
Yes, we hear you.
Okay, thank you. Could you elaborate a bit on the current competitive environment? Has there been some price competition visible, and if yes, how have you responded to that?
Well, I think, I think that the campaign level is quite normal in the market. Actually, if we're looking at the market development the last couple of years, like 1.5 years ago, the consumer part of the building materials market started to decline, while the business to business segment were stronger a little bit longer. I think now we see that also the business to business part of the building material market is declining at the same similar rate to the consumer ones. So which means that players. We are, as you know, focused on the consumer part, and I guess the players more focused on the business to business part now experience the same thing as we have done for the last year or so.
But when it comes to the campaign levels and so on, I think, you know, a quite normal level. And we always, you know, try to offer the best prices to our customers. That is part of our customer offering, to have a wide assortment in many stores and the lowest prices.
Okay. If you could give some words on the current customer behavior trends inside the Nordic markets, I'm especially interested on the differences between each market, Sweden, Finland, etc.
I think, overall, similar trends. Maybe that Denmark and Norway develops a little bit stronger, Sweden, somewhere in the middle, and Finland maybe a little bit weaker. But it also depends on categories. And what we've seen is that the demand for products related to the larger projects, the more heavy building materials is, you know, developing weaker than products related to smaller projects. So I would say, you know, some differences between categories and then maybe also a little bit different in the market, but all the overall trends are similar.
Okay. What about your ambition in Finland, considering expanding your store network in the coming years?
Well, but our overall strategy remains the same. We want... We have proven for the last many years that we are able to run a profitable organic growth, within the Nordic region. That haven't changed. That is our mission also going forward. But of course, we also need to adapt to the current market situations, both in general and also the different countries. So, you know, we adapt continuously to make sure that we, yeah, adapt our business to the market environment that we experience.
Okay. Thank you. That's all from my side.
Thank you. As a reminder, if you'd like to ask a question, please press star followed by one on your telephone keypad. Our next question comes from Julian Baitz from Passport Advisors. Julian, your line is now open. Please go ahead.
Yes. Hello, good morning. Two questions for me. The first one would be on the slide about the market, slide four on your presentation. I was just wondering if you have seen some kind of bottoming out in terms of both traffic and this effect you mentioned on the smaller size tickets, or let's say, the absence of large products, i.e., is it getting worse by month or you see some kind of stabilization at low level? That would be the first question, and second question would be about the cash flow this year. Usually Q4 include the payment out to suppliers, which would mean that net debt might be a bit worse than... Might worsen a bit compared to Q3.
So, would that be the case this year also? Yeah, that's it.
Thank you. I try to start with the market and then ask Helena to comment on the cash flow. Well, if you look at the market figures, our assessment is that the market in Q1 was down by some 30% versus the year before. In Q2, by 15%-20% or so, and in Q3, 15% down versus the year before. So it's continued to be a declining market, and I believe that the general assessment, the general assumption is that we will continue to see hesitant consumers also for some time going forward. So I think that is, yeah, our view right now, and which means that we, of course, need to adapt accordingly, both when it comes to cost and inventory.
But at the same time, we are prepared. We have a short, efficient sourcing model, so we are able to ramp up as soon as the market stabilizes or increases, or when it stabilizes and increases again.
To your question about the seasonality in our cash flow, we have correctly that same pattern and seasonality, where we have a positive cash flow in our high season and a slightly negative cash flow in the low season. So we foresee that coming, although we continue to work on our working capital to optimize and work further on inventory levels. But the pattern is there, yes.
So arguably, the net debt, excluding IFRS, will be higher. And I was just wondering if you can basically offset this negative payable impact by even going further down in inventory? Or is it, have you reached a bottom in the process now?
No, there will be a negative effect in the last quarter, yes.
Maybe you just come back on the first question. Price deflation, is that does it play a role now in Q3, for example? Do you see some impact? I mean, aside from the campaign, obviously, that might have impact, but just general price decline. Are you seeing some or not yet?
No, we see the prices in the different categories varies. Overall, our revenue in the third quarter is negatively impacted by lower prices on timber. So the market prices-
Yeah.
on timber products has come down quite significantly. So overall, our product basket has a lower price than a year ago.
Sure. Yeah. Yeah, but that's, that's a volume, that's more of volume, no? Or, or you would say even price of timber has, has impacted.
The lower timber prices impact overall prices. So, not the volume impact, but the price in our average basket is lower in the third quarter this year than the year before, driven by the prices on timber.
Okay. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you. There are no further questions on the line, so I'd like to hand back to Karl for any closing remarks.
Well, thank you, and thanks a lot for your participation and for your questions. If not before, we are really looking forward to meeting you again of our fourth quarter. Thank you.
This concludes today's conference call. Thank you all very much for joining. You may now disconnect your line. Have a great rest of your day.