Welcome to the Embellence Group Q4 Conference Call. For the first part of the conference call, the participants will be in listen-only mode. During the questions and answer session, participants are able to ask questions by dialing star five on their telephone keypad. Now, I will hand the conference over to the speakers, CEO Olle Svensk, and CFO Karin Lidén. Please go ahead.
Welcome everyone to the Q4 Presentation of Embellence Group. Presenting today is, together with me, Karin Lidén, our CFO, and myself, Olle Svensk. So let's move directly into the Q4 results then. So while the market remained challenging and somewhat soft, I'm really proud to say that we finished the year strong, in a strong way. We reached a revenue of SEK 190 million, which means organic growth of 5.7%, and all three premium brands in wallpaper category grew in the fourth quarter. On an EBITDA level, we reached SEK 23.2 million, or a margin of 12.2%. Thanks to a lower cost base, we managed to mitigate some of the adverse product mix that we saw in the quarter.
We had no adjustment during the quarter, and so in total, 12.2% on EBITDA margin, as I mentioned. Strong operating cash flow, SEK 33.6, compared to SEK 16 last comparable quarter. And last but not least, a new chairman of the board was appointed on December 8th, Magnus Welander. Over to you, Karin.
Thank you, Olle. Looking at the net sales in the fourth quarter, as Olle said, it was SEK 190 million, and this is a growth of 7.3% compared to the same period last year, and 5.7% of this was organic. The EBITDA margin in the quarter was 12.2%. The operating cash flow, almost SEK 34 million, was strong, and the improvement of working capital contributed with almost SEK 23 million. It was primarily accounts receivable and inventory that improved in the quarter. Looking at the full year, which we achieved the sales of SEK 741 million, which is a growth of 2.8%, the organic sales declined with 2%, acquisition of Artscape added 2.2%, and currencies added 2.6%.
The EBITDA ended at SEK 92 million, with a margin of 12.4%, and the adjusted EBITDA ended at SEK 95 million, or 12.8% margin. Net profit was SEK 39 million, and operating cash flow around SEK 61 million. Continuing with the sales and EBITDA development over time, we can see that the start of 2023 was weak, especially the second quarter. During the second half of the year, we returned to organic growth and improved profitability again. And now over to you, Olle.
Thank you. Thank you very much. So looking at the sales development then, by region, Nordics being our largest region with 42% of our total sales, we had strong sales with 15.7% growth, majority of it coming from Sweden. And of course, a positive impact was the launch of the professional assortment for Boråstapeter that took place during October and November. EBITDA margin lower due to product mix, as this part of the assortment is not in a premium segment. In Europe, sales growth good quarter, +7.1%. Really good sales development in Germany and Italy and some other markets as well, while UK in the quarter was soft and the retail market is soft in the UK.
So increased sales and the implemented savings that we had done earlier gives us a really strong EBITDA margin as well for this region. Rest of the World, we had a weak quarter. We only reached SEK 45 million, and it had a strong impact by de stocking of one of the larger clients to Artscape ahead of a refreshment or fresh update that will take place during the first quarter this year. Last but not least, an operating result was weak due to we came in low on sales, so it's very much concentrated on this.
Looking at the full year, sales development by region, so I'm happy to say that Nordic, we gradually during the second half of the year, we are returning back to growth, especially second quarter last year was weak. But now we have a good momentum overall and have seen that for several months. Europe, I would say, summarizing Europe for us last year, stable sales, good profitability. We have been around the rolling twelve here, as you see, around SEK 250 million and a little bit ahead of that. Strong finish of the year, as I just mentioned. Rest of the World, where U.S. is a big part of the total market, was in total, it was flat over the year, so quite stable in terms of revenue.
Looking ahead then, I mean, the market, we expect to continue to be uncertain and a bit unpredictable, but we have our strongest product offer ever, in our full portfolio of brands. And we are certain, and I'm certain that consumers will still want to live in beautiful environment and homes, regardless if it's their existing home or moving to a new home. So we have the brands and the designs to offer that opportunity. We will continue to prioritize, development of our existing brands, in the portfolio to drive organic growth, and we will do this through strong product offering and, professional execution of key product launches during the year.
I also want to mention here that we will hold the Capital Markets Day in Stockholm on May 21st, where we will present our strategic view going forward. But look, talking about the best product offer ever, I really want to showcase you a few things here. And behind our revenue and behind all numbers, we have an impressive collections and impressive brands, that two of them I would like to share with you. Starting off with Wall&decò, this is one of the designs that we presented and launched during Maison & Objet here in middle of January. This is Arcantico, inspired by Bologna, and as you can see, totally transforms the room in a very, very impactful way.
Another design that was very well received, or is very well received right now, is this one inspired by Scotland, actually, Not a Tartan. And the third one here is, which gives you hope of spring, I would say, but a very beautiful design by Lorenzo De Grandis, Mood for Love, which, as you can see, is also has of this room here. But you know, one of the really important things that we launched at the Maison was d.ecodura for Wall&decò. That is, we boast that's a new paradigm for wallpaper, and it's without any compromise between sustainability, durability, or beauty. With beauty, this is the wallpaper which we print upon for Wall&decò, and we have it in two different surfaces, as you can see here, in Sand and Texture.
With durability, this surface is as durable as traditional fossil fuel-based vinyl. So in terms of scratchability and cleanability, it's all those benefits. But novelty, which is actually the first in the market, ever, is that we have changed the petrol-based part of that is used in vinyl to a biosourced one. So it's a sustainable solution that can withstand scratches and in public areas, and of course, also in private homes. And we have reduced the carbon footprint 50% here. So d.ecodura is the new paradigm for wallpaper. Then I want to take you to another important launch that is taking place now or here in January, and that is for Boråstapeter.
With Boråstapeter, we have our second edition with Newbie, which is a very beautiful and design that is especially for children's room, as you can see, which bring, which, brings happiness, but also can makes you have a wall here that makes you talk and this see different animals and beautiful drawings. And we have several designs here, like the one, Little Explorer. We have this one as well here with the Savannah. And last but not least, this is Wild Forest, one that I actually personally wallpapered and hanged in one of my grandchildren's room here recently, and it totally transforms the room, and there are so many things to look at that on this one. So it's absolutely beautiful. So summary of the quarter then. As I mentioned, a strong finish of the year, despite a really challenging environment.
We managed to grow 7.3%, of which organic growth was 5.7%. Our lower cost base mitigate some of the negative product mix that I mentioned here before, so our EBITDA reached SEK 23.2 million compared to SEK 14.7 million fourth quarter in 2022. The strong operating cash flow and with SEK 33.6 million.... Our focus ahead, as I mentioned here for several quarters, we prioritize organic growth to further develop our fantastic portfolio of brands, and we prioritize to have a good cash flow and profitability. All hands on deck now to have successful execution of our different collections that are launched right now and products that are launched as well.
The last point here, which I want to repeat, we will invite to Capital Markets Day in Stockholm on the 21st of May, and more details about that will come later on. With this, we are finished with the presentation, and we are open to if there are any questions.
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. There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions or closing comments. The next question comes from Karri Rinta from Handelsbanken. Please go ahead.
Yeah, thanks. Thanks for taking my question. Sorry, I missed the first part of the presentation, and maybe you commented on the board, board's proposal to not pay a dividend, and if you did, could you please repeat, repeat those comments, and if you didn't, do you have any color that you could give, any background on this, on this decision?
I mean, the main reason for the board to propose this is that we want to continue to have, you know, control our destiny and our future and have a good and healthy balance sheet.
You have a healthy balance sheet that you had a strong cash flow in the fourth quarter, so does this mean that you're seeing some weakening in your business outlook for the coming year?
No, I wouldn't say so. It's a matter of that we want to have operational, you know, control or continue to have that. I'm aware, we are aware that we have a healthy balance sheet, but it can get even more healthier. So we are ready for if something will happen here in the future. But we don't, and I don't foresee any.
All right
... you know, weakening or risks in the market. I think we have, the market will probably not get worse, and probably not in the near time. It will not get better, but I think we have the worst behind us as well, as well, at least.
All right. Then, just a detail on the cash flow. I think you mentioned that you had a strong working capital in the fourth quarter, and does that in any way indicate that maybe the last month of the quarter was a bit weak so that you had time to collect your receivables, and you didn't incur that many new payables? Was there any element of that in the cash flow in the fourth quarter?
Kari, here, I would say, looking at, we ended Q3 very strong with a high level of sales, and this high account receivables that we ended Q3 with were, of course, collected during the last quarter. So that's my comment to that. So I don't see any unusual activity between months.
No, that makes sense. And then the business-to-business channel or the hospitality and corporate that you have commented in recent quarters as being strong, was there any change in trends in that specific sales channel?
No, no. No changes.
Still going, going strong. Good. And then finally, a bit of an oddball question, but have you started to experiment with the new AI tools when it comes to wallpaper design?
Yes, we are using it in many areas, or in some areas. Let's be modest there. One of them is design, where we are exploring some things, yes.
None of these new wallpapers that you presented now are AI generated?
No. No, no, definitely not.
Okay. All right, and then maybe, as I said, I missed the first part of the presentation, but Europe, I think you mentioned that U.K. was weak, but then that must mean that Europe sales outside the U.K. were pretty solid.
Yes, two other very important markets for us in Europe, it's Italy and Germany, and both of them performed strong.
... In addition to that, we have several smaller markets which also performed in the quarter.
Looking at Italy specifically, if you would say that, where are we roughly when we compare to, I don't know if we should compare to pre-pandemic levels or to what levels we should compare, but in absolute terms, sales in Italy, are we at index below 100 compared to pre-pandemic levels or significantly above?
I wouldn't call it significantly above, but what does happen in Italy and in many other countries, I would say that there is this shift, partly a shift between the retail channel and the hospitality channel. So while the retail channel remains softer with lower footfall, we are able to compensate that with more business into hotels, basically.
Okay. And then finally, this professional collection in Boråstapeter, is it typically when you launch these new collections, is there any type of sort of channel pipeline filling that the sales channel does, or is it indicative of sort of the sell-out levels? So how should we think about the coming quarters for this collection? Is it a one-off event?
Sorry, sorry, Karri, please.
No, is it a sort of a... Was this, impact isolated in the fourth quarter, or should we expect a continued positive impact from this new collection?
When we have the launches like this with a professional assortment, there is a destocking in trade that happens over five, six months, I would say. And then, it's the stocking up happening in this quarter here. But I would not. You should not expect that these levels should remain... So it's a longer destocking that then is filled up during one or more months.
Okay. And then maybe just finally, if we just look at the retail climate and then compare Sweden, Europe, and Rest of the World. So I guess Sweden is probably through the worst when it comes to consumers, which have been pretty weak for quite some time now. But how confident are you that even the U.S. market will perform better in 2024 than it did in 2023?
I mean, first of all, if we look at Europe, yes, as we have, and what we have said before, the Nordic market and Swedish market, the consumers, the consumer confidence is lower there, probably, than other markets as we have the combination of interest rates and so on. But also, we also have inflation that has been fueled by the currency, as you know, and exchange rates. So it's been tougher there. With regards to, you said U.S. market, that it should come back, I mean, in general, it seems like the macros for the U.S. is somewhat more positive than in many parts of Europe.
So we are cautiously optimistic about that, but it remains to be experienced here going forward. As we mentioned here, we had a destocking with Artscape, and we will have that new assortment being delivered during first quarter. That will take us back with a new designs and new assortment that we are-- that is actually happening right now, as we speak this new launch.
Besides that, do you have any exciting plans for the, for the North American market besides Artscape for 2024? I'm sure you have, but anything-
We have lots of exciting things, and I will be happy to share that in the Q1, Q2, the Capital Markets Day, so please stay tuned.
All right. I will. Thank you. Those were all my questions.
Okay. Thanks, Karri.
As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please dial pound key five on your telephone keypad. There are no more questions at this time, so I hand the conference back to the speakers for any written questions or closing comments.
Karin here, and I will shortly read out the questions we've received in the written part of the presentation. First of all, we have received a couple of questions on the dividend. I think we have answered those as best we can. Then we get a question: In a previous report, you noted an expected positive input from lower input prices starting in Q4. It seems this did not materialize. Could you give us some flavor on this, please?
And my answer to that is that we do see input prices, and we have a lower cost base. We do see lower input prices as of Q4... And that is part of our lower cost base that we talk about. It did materialize, but we had an adverse product mix in the quarter, which overtook this impact with the launch of the professional assortment and the low sales in the U.S. Next question, any additional flavor on the Artscape slowdown and relaunch would be helpful? I think Olle explained that. Do you have anything else to say on that?
No, I can only repeat what I said before. It was just the customer were taking down inventory and then started toward the beginning of this year. So, we will get back on track there.
And then the final question: How does the pipeline for potential acquisitions look? Has the price level of companies in the private market come down?
I mean, the pipeline is, as we discussed, we have discussed before here, and there are companies out there, but I will repeat what we talked about before. Our main focus is to develop our already beautiful bouquet of flowers, of brands, to deliver organic growth. So that's our main focus, and we will do that by launching amazing collections and fantastic products. So that's our focus now here in going forward.
I believe that is all questions, so thank you for us at Embellence Group. Any final words, Olle?
No. Thank you very much for tuning in and listening, and we look forward to talk to you later again. Thank you.