Welcome to the Clas Ohlson Q4 2025/2026 report presentation. For the first part of the presentation, participants will be in listen-only mode. During the questions and answers session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing hash five on their telephone keypad. I will now hand the conference over to Chief Executive Officer Kristofer Tonström and Chief Financial Officer Pernilla Walfridsson. Please go ahead.
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Clas Ohlson Q4 and year-end report presentation. My name is Kristofer Tonström, and I'm the President and Chief Executive Officer, and I'm here together with Pernilla Walfridsson, our Chief Financial Officer. Looking at the agenda for today, we will review a business update, go through the financial development from the quarter and the year, then cover the events after the reporting period, summarize, and then move into Q&A. Highlighting the fourth quarter and the year, we can conclude that we are closing the year from a position of strength. Q4 is a strong finish to a strong year. We have seen very solid organic growth above our targets. We have reported record sales and record earnings, as well as strong cash generation, and our balance sheet remains strong, which is also reflected in the proposed increased dividend that we will come back to.
We have also started the new year strongly with 9% organic growth in May. We will also come back to that. Moving into the business updates and looking at the strategy execution following Q4, the business continues to develop in line with our strategy. We see progress across all the strategic pillars and also growth across all the prioritized niches, as well as continued online growth and also a store network that continues to strengthen. We also see that Club Clas and customer engagement is improving. During the quarter, we also kicked off the building that relates to the logistics investment, and it's progressing according to plan so far. Looking at how we're performing versus our critical from a customer point of view when it comes back to our assortment, our brand, and our customer meeting. We, during the quarter, have received 90,000 product reviews.
It's a smaller quarter, so it's also slightly fewer reviews, but we can also see that the feedback from customers remain very strong. We also deliver on the affordability scoring that we're following every quarter. Also NPS remains strong and still industry-leading. All in all, we're progressing well from a customer point of view. Turning to our consumer missions. Growth continues to be broad-based. All our missions contribute to the overall growth. I think one of the strengths in our business model is that we're not dependent on one category. We are broad-based, and we do have many legs to stand on. I think we've also been able to demonstrate relevance across many different customer needs during this quarter. With that short introduction, I will then hand over to Pernilla for the financial development.
Thanks, Kristofer. Good morning, everyone. Let's take a closer look at the financials of the fourth quarter and the full year 2025/2026. To begin with, net sales were up 11% in the quarter, of which 9% relates to organic sales increase, 2% relate to our recently acquired subsidiaries and no currency effect in the quarter. 7% of the increase relates to like-for-like growth and 1% relate to expansion of the store network. Online sales grew by 25% in total, including the acquired PhoneLife and Reservdelaronline online businesses. For the full year, total sales amounted to SEK 12.5 billion, and the organic sales increase was 9%. During the year, we increased the store network by eight stores. Looking at the home markets, we saw great performance throughout the quarter as well as for the financial year.
Organic growth in Sweden was 8% in the quarter, 11% in Norway, and 9% in Finland. The macro environment is, as you know, very volatile. Currencies is as always a factor, and in the quarter, the NOK has picked up substantially versus the SEK, whereas the US dollar remain on somewhat lower levels. I would also like to mention that for the coming quarter, we anticipate negative hedging effect from the NOK if the significant uplift versus the SEK remains. Spot prices for shipping remain at reasonable levels, but with a sharp increase in oil prices, we anticipate higher freight costs going forward, as well as higher input cost in manufacturing, but still, of course, also impacted by the US dollar development. The gross margin increased by 2.2 percentage point in the quarter, up to 50.1%.
Key explanation to the strong gross margin were favorable purchasing currencies, improved purchasing prices, lower freight cost, and positive mix effect from sales in the Spares Group, meaning lower business-to-business sales and higher gross margin in the recently acquired companies. Over to the income statement. We see good operating profit of SEK 180 million and a 6.9% operating margin. The increase in personnel expenses relates to higher volumes in our logistic chain, wage increases, new stores, and acquired businesses. Other external expenses also increased in the quarter, mainly due to increased investments in marketing and due to the addition of the acquired businesses. The EPS for the quarter was SEK 2.18 and SEK 18.40 for the full year. The inventory is marginally up compared with the same period last year.
This level should be seen in the light of us also adding stores, adding assortment, and adding acquired businesses since last year. We have also seen lower purchasing prices and currencies. All in all, a balanced and efficient inventory. Cash flow for the year improved versus cash flow from operating activities totaling SEK 2.1 billion , an improvement from SEK 1.8 billion last year, mainly thanks to improved profits. Free cash flow for the period amounted to SEK 1.3 billion . Net debt, EBITDA, excluding IFRS 16, was SEK -1.1. We maintained a strong net cash position.
Turning to investments, I think we have been disciplined in how we have invested for the future and managed to come in at SEK 313 million for the year, which is above our initial forecast of SEK 250 million , but below forecast if we exclude the acquisitions of PhoneLife and Reservdelaronline. For the year 2026, 2027, we intend to continue investing in our store network, both in new stores and in refurbishment, we will continue to update our IT landscape. As previously communicated, the vast majority of our automation investment at our distribution center will be accounted for in 2026, 2027. In total, we intend to invest approximately SEK 600 million in 2026, 2027. With that, I'm handing back the presentation to you, Kristofer.
Thank you very much, Pernilla. We will move into the events after the reporting period, starting with the May sales development that we also reported this morning. Overall, we've had a very strong start to the new financial year with an organic growth of, in total, 9% for the total company. We see, again, broad-based growth, with Sweden growing 11%, Norway 5%, and Finland encouragingly 11% organic growth. Other markets grew 22%. All in all, the momentum continues as we kick off the new financial year. Again, it's also broad-based across countries, but we can also confirm that it's broad-based across the five consumer missions. Turning to the proposed dividend that the board is proposing today. Here, the proposed dividend is amounting to SEK 9.25 per share, up from SEK 7 last year, and it's to be distributed as two separate payments of SEK 4.625.
The board also proposes an extra dividend of SEK 4.75 per share to be also distributed in two separate payments of SEK 2.375. This is a reflection of the strong earnings growth and the strong EPS development. Our dividend policy moving forward remains unchanged, and the extra dividend reflects the strong balance sheet and the position that we are in from a business model point of view. Moving into the summary and looking at the way forward. We do have a very large market opportunity. We have a strong position, we have a strong brand position, we have high customer satisfaction, we have a strong omnichannel platform, and we also have a strong financial profile. We see continued opportunities for profitable growth, also supported by our business model that we believe has become significantly stronger now over the last few years.
This morning, we also updated and announced updated financial targets, and these targets are valid for the next three years, starting as of the new year on the 1st of May. Here the targets are balancing three important areas. First, an organic sales growth of 5% per year, an operating margin of around 12% per year, and a return on capital employed of around 30% per year. Apart from the financial targets, the dividend policy, as I previously mentioned, remains unchanged, and the dividends are to comprise at least 50% of earnings per share after tax with consideration to the financial position. I believe these targets reflect the company we have become. It's a balance between growth, profitability, but also we did the introduction of return on capital employed, capital efficiency.
I believe these targets are supported by the strength of the core business, and they're really designed to ensure that we support disciplined and profitable growth over time. Not only for one year, but really over the next three years. I believe that the targets are supported by the strength of the business model. With that, I also want to highlight that this afternoon, so starting at 1:00 A.M. CET, we will have our Capital Markets Day. Here we will have an opportunity to go deeper, opportunity to explain more about the growth drivers moving forward, but also an opportunity to talk a bit more about the updated targets. I hope to see many of you this afternoon. With that, we will move into Q&A.
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 Niklas Ekman from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.
Thank you. Can I start by asking about the new financial targets? I note that all three operating performance targets here are below your current level, and in the case of growth, significantly below, and not least in light of the continued strong sales you're delivering here in May. I'm also noting that if you look in the past the last two years, you have consistently been above your margin target. The past three years, you've consistently been above your previous sales guidance. I'm just curious if there's any reason why you're setting a target that is below where you currently are. Are you seeing any imminent threats here in terms of slowdown of sales or margin pressure in the quarters ahead?
Good morning, Niklas. To answer the last question first, no, we do not see any imminent threats to our business model. I would rather say that the business model and the company is in a much more stronger structure than we have been in the past. Looking at the targets, they are clearly also outlined for the next three years. It's not only for the first financial year, but for the next three years. They should also be seen as in combination, so the 5% organic growth together with around 12% and around 30% return on capital employed. We believe that that balance is really to ensure that we drive continued disciplined execution. I believe looking back, we have delivered, and we have executed, and the plan is to continue to deliver and execute forward.
The targets are designed as a combination to ensure that we continue that disciplined execution moving forward. There are no threats at the horizon, and we will continue full steam ahead as we have in the past few years.
Okay. Very good. Continuing on the same topic, because you mentioned here in the call input costs now significant tailwinds, and you're seeing some headwinds ahead related to oil prices, freight costs, and then some hedging effect as well. Is there any way to quantify or at least say when these effects are going to hit? I assume that the NOK hedging, that's a Q1 issue, whereas the freight and oil price, that's more for coming quarters. Can you elaborate a little bit on this?
Yeah, you're absolutely right. Relating to the NOK hedging, that's a Q1 effect, and we don't want to go into detailed exact numbers yet. Obviously that's a Q1, and that's of course driven by the strong fluctuation of the Norwegian krona. When it comes to the other parts, transportation and pricing, et cetera, that's obviously more with the lagging effect given the six to eight months time from purchase to selling. At the same time, I also want to be clear that obviously what we are seeing right now with the macro environment is something that is same for everybody. I believe that we are in a stronger position today than we have been in the past, given that we now have more global sourcing markets to operate from. We also have flexibility in terms of the five consumer missions. We're not dependent on one single area.
We have a broader structure today. I believe we are in a good position to manage these things. Obviously some of these effects are inevitable. We believe that despite those, we will deliver around the target levels that we talked about.
Very good. Thank you. Last question just on Finland. We've seen a strong performance now both in the quarter and in May sales here. Can you tell us a little bit about what's going on in Finland? What efforts you've made and what you expect from this going forward? Are you more confident now on an accelerated rollout in Finland, for instance?
Yes. Finland is clearly an attractive opportunity for us moving forward, and I think our confidence has increased over the last year. We started the Finnish transformation a couple of years back with taking out cost, making the store network more efficient, closing non-profitable stores. We have also adjusted the assortment to be better equipped for the Finnish customers, and we have also rebuilt all our stores. Since last fall, we have started to activate the brand more than in the past, both via marketing promotion and campaigns. At the same time, we have also started a little bit more of an ambitious store expansion. We have opened a couple of stores last year, and we do have a couple of stores also in the plan moving forward. We are confident in Finland.
As I've said before, it's not going to be a quick fix. For us it's an attractive opportunity for the future. The key thing is to continue driving the local relevance, continue driving and playing off our strengths also in the Finnish market. Of course, it's encouraging to see the organic growth for the year and now also for me going in the right direction.
Very clear. Thanks for taking my questions.
Thank you.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad. I hand the conference back to the speakers for any closing comments. The next question comes from Andreas Lundberg from SEB. Please go ahead.
Yeah, good morning. Just a couple of questions starting with merchandising, how we work with store offering and so forth. Is that on a store-level point of view deciding on what products to have or who decides that? Thank you.
When it comes to merchandising, we have centralized most of the decisions in terms of merchandising to central functions and also relying on systems to do that in an efficient way. The benefit with the business model is that there are not huge differences between countries and geographies. There are slight differences, North and South, et cetera, but we have centralized as many of those decisions as possible while we are also giving a little bit of flexibility to the store managers to top up here and there. Most of the merchandising decisions are centralized.
Okay. Well, obviously done a good job there. On the dividend payout here, sure, it will use a special dividend here, but I assume you will soon be overcapitalized again. Is the dividend the tool you will prioritize when it comes to capital allocation then on when overcapitalized business? Thank you.
Looking at our capital allocation framework, it's very much to ensure we drive discipline, but of course also returns. The number one priority is investing in the core business. Assortment and customer meeting, but also infrastructure, for example, what we do now with logistics. We also have opportunities to do selective growth investments, and here we're obviously investing in new stores, but also a more ambitious store rebuild agenda that we'll talk a bit more about this afternoon. Third, obviously, when we have ensured those buckets are fulfilled, there is also then a distribution to shareholders as the third part. As said, this year, we're increasing investment and we're increasing the dividend. For us, it's important to maintain a strong balance sheet, have the resources to ensure that we are in a position to invest while we also want to be efficient.
Obviously with the return on capital employed target, that is also, of course, a way to drive efficiency in terms of managing cash in a prudent way.
Yes. Lastly, on the return on capital employed question or target, does that also imply that you basically assume capital efficiency should be close to unchanged from here? Thank you.
Obviously looking back at our return on capital employed development over the years, obviously we closed this last financial year now on the last of April with the return on capital employed of 34, which is a high level versus historical levels. What we're guiding for is around 30% also in the next three years. It's really looking at these three targets as a balance, but around 30.
Cool. Thank you so much.
Thank you.
There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions and closing comments.
We do have one question from the webcast. It is Magnus Råman from SB1 Markets. He wants to know whether we would be able to elaborate on the magnitude of the gross margin drivers mentioned in the report.
Yeah. Looking at the gross margin drivers, obviously we indicate that currencies is one of the key drivers, but then we also have the purchasing prices, the positive effects from transportation, and then also the positive effect from business-to-business being slightly below from a mix point of view. Those are the four drivers. I think one comment is that if I look back at the last year we've had from a currency point of view, it's been slightly negative to neutral. Obviously we start seeing the positive effect from the dollar, but we've also had a positive effect now from the Norwegian krona that has appreciated recently. We don't want to quantify this more in detail.
These are the drivers, and I think the priority order indicates a little bit the magnitude, but we don't want to give specific details on each of the drivers.
We have no further questions from the webcast. Over to you, Kristofer, for some closing remarks.
Okay. Thank you very much for great questions and we look forward to seeing all of you at 1:00 CET today where we will have an opportunity to go much deeper into the business model, and the way forward. Thank you so much.