Good morning, everyone. I am Susanne Ehnbåge, CEO of Lindex Group, I would like to warmly welcome you all to our webcast, where we will walk you through the key highlights of April to June 2026 financial performance. I have, as always, with me, our CFO, Henrik Henriksson. Good morning. Now let's continue to the agenda on the next page. We will start with the highlights of Q2, then we will also have the business updates of our two divisions, Lindex and Stockmann, then we will look more into the financials. We will finish with an update on our way forward, after our presentation, we will have time for your questions, we can now move on to the next page, please. Let's begin with our business update for Lindex Group, as well as the Lindex and Stockmann divisions. Let's first have a look at our consumer confidence, as you can see on this page. Our home markets continue to report relatively low consumer sentiment levels during the second quarter, as shown on this slide. However, we saw some improvements towards the end of the quarter, especially in Finland. Our focus remained on staying close to our customers with a relevant and also attractive offering and securing excellent service and a good supply capability. Now let's have a look at the group-level key messages of the quarter. Lindex Group delivered strong adjusted operating result and revenue growth during the second quarter. Lindex division's revenue increased by 4.2%, and adjusted operating result increased by 32%. Revenue in the Stockmann division declined marginally, but comparable revenue showed a slight increase, and the profitability continued to improve. Work to reach full operations at the Lindex division's new omnichannel distribution center progressed steadily during the quarter, and the first efficiency improvements have been achieved, marking an important milestone in the development of this significantly important facility. As earlier communicated, the valuation of the strategic alternatives for the Stockmann department store business continues, and the outcome of the strategic assessment will be communicated when appropriate. We can now move on to the next page, please. To briefly sum up the group's Q2 development, Lindex Group's revenue increased by 2.2% to EUR 259.5 million and by 1.2% in local currencies. The Lindex divisions grew by 4.2%, or 2.8% if you look at it in local currencies. While the Stockmann division's revenue declined slightly but increased in comparable terms. The group's adjusted operating results increased from EUR 22.2 million- EUR 30.5 million. The improvement was mainly driven by a stronger gross profit in the Lindex division and a continued profitability improvement in Stockmann, supported by efficiency measures. Let's take the next slide, please. Looking into the Lindex division, we delivered sales growth and improved profitability, supported by a relevant commercial offering. Womenswear was the best-performing category. We continued to strengthen the offering through selected launches, including Female Engineering's collaboration with Mammut and our new loungewear collection. Work to gradually reach full operations at our new omnichannel distribution center progressed well. The property development has been completed with full ownership of the facility transferred to Lindex. Our focus has shifted from implementation to optimization. Towards the end of the quarter, we began to see the first positive efficiency benefits, which are expected to increase gradually as operations continue to optimize. We also continued our market expansion, signing an agreement to open our third store in Denmark in Aarhus. We're also strengthening our partnership with Magasin and Magasin du Nord. We have opened two new stores in Reykjavik in Iceland. To support continued growth, we made further progress in our digital and also circular transformation, improving both personalization, navigation, and order tracking, strengthening digital tools in our stores, and building AI capabilities in areas such as translation and also content creation. On circularity, we have partnered with BASF and its loopamid solution to accelerate textile to textile recycling with an initial focus on lingerie, where polyamide is an important material and Lindex has a really strong position. We also strengthen our focus on women's empowerment and menstrual health through a WaterAid Fundraising and Awareness Initiative with Lindex matching donations and supporting the equivalent of more than 26,000 menstrual health education sessions. Let's then turn to the Stockmann division. The second quarter marked another step in Stockmann's transformation journey with solid profitability improvement driven by a stronger customer offering, improved operational and cost efficiency, and disciplined commercial execution. A key highlight was the strong performance of the fashion category, where the curated offering continued to resonate with the customers, supported by new brands, concepts, and premium experience. omnichannel momentum has also continued, supported by the new Stockmann app, digital in-store tools, and also ongoing renovations of the Helsinki flagship, all strengthening the customer experience. Crazy Days also demonstrated strong omnichannel execution and performed better than the previous year, despite a leaner operating base. We were also pleased to see that the loyal customer base continued expanding with more active and new My Stockmann members, and also a higher loyalty share of revenue and growth in the young loyal customer base during the first half. Overall, Stockmann's second quarter shows that strategy execution is translating into a stronger customer engagement and improved profitability. We will continue to strengthen differentiation, omnichannel competitiveness, and loyal customer value while maintaining a disciplined focus on profitability. Let's move on to our guidance on the next page. We maintain our full year guidance. We expect the revenue in local currencies to grow compared to 2025, and the group's adjusted operating result is estimated to be EUR 70 million-EUR 95 million. As I said earlier, foreign exchange rate fluctuations may have a significant effect on adjusted operating results. With that, I would like to hand over to our CFO, Henrik. Thank you, Susanne. Now let's look more closely into the second quarter, and we can jump to the next page, please. On this slide, we are presenting the Lindex division's revenue and adjusted operating result for the second quarter 2026. The Lindex division revenue increased by 4.2% and ended up at EUR 179.6 million. In local currencies, the revenue increased approximately 2.8%. This positive revenue development was driven by a well-received customer offering combined with successful commercial execution. The revenue from our physical stores increased by 5.9% in local currencies. Looking into our digital revenue, it accounted for 17.7% of Lindex total revenue. The lower digital revenue continued to be temporarily affected by the stabilization phase of the new omnichannel distribution center operations. However, as Susanne earlier told, work to gradually bring the new center to full operation progressed according to plan, and the first efficiency benefits started to materialize towards the end of the quarter. Looking into our gross margin, it increased to 68.4%, and this is due to favorable currency impact and proactive management of sales margins. Our comparable operating cost increased slightly to EUR 70.6 million compared to the comparable period of EUR 69.7 million. This is due somewhat to higher personnel cost and sales volume-related operating costs. Our adjusted operating result came in at EUR 30.2 million, and this is due to improved gross profit and disciplined cost management. Let's jump to the next page where we will then look into Stockmann's divisions revenue and adjusted operating result for the second quarter 2026. Here we can state that the division's revenue came in at EUR 80.0 million, and it declined slightly to comparison period. Looking into comparable revenue, excluding the impact of the Itis department store closure and the transfer of the furniture assortment to our new partner, Vepsäläinen, in September, grew versus the comparison period. The division's main category, fashion, performed well, and its growth had a positive impact both on revenue and margin development. Looking into the sales in the food category were in line with the comparison period, while sales in beauty declined slightly, and the home category declined significantly due to the changes of business model. Stockmann's gross margin increased to 45.5%, and this is due to lower share of clearance sales, good campaign tactics, and successful margin management. Adjusted operating result improved mainly due to improved gross profit and successful efficiency measures. Next slide, please. With this slide, we would like to visualize how the division level changes, and their impact on the group's revenue and adjusted operating result during the second quarter. The left-hand side shows the revenue, which ended up as an increase compared to the comparison period on group level. Lindex division contributed by EUR 7.3 million due to well-received customer offering, combined with successful commercial execution, and Stockmann's revenue decreased by EUR 1.7 million, but as previously mentioned, grew in comparable terms. Looking into the right-hand side here, it's the adjusted operating result, and it increased to EUR 30.5 million on group level. Here the Lindex division adjusted operating result contributed by EUR 7.4 million due to improved gross profit and disciplined cost management. The Stockmann division, supported by EUR 1.3 million, and that was driven by gross profit improvement together with successful efficiency measures that contributed to the positive outcome. If we then turn page and look at the group key figures for the quarter. As earlier mentioned, our revenue increased from the comparison period by 2.2% and in 1.2% in local currencies. Adjusted operating result increased to EUR 30.5 million. Operating result ended up at EUR 30.0 million, and the net result increased to EUR 15.8 million. The gross margin for the group improved to 61.3%, and that's compared to 58% in the comparison period. Earnings per share increased to EUR 0.09. We can then turn page. This is starting by saying a general comment on the Lindex Group's first half year development. We can see that there was a continued progress in both revenue and profitability, and it was supported by gross profit and disciplined cost management in both divisions. Looking into the group's increase, it was 2.8% and ended up at EUR 452.4 million. This was driven by the Lindex division, who contributed by EUR 14.7 million due to strong customer offering and successful commercial execution. We have the Stockmann's division with a decrease of EUR 2.2 million, but grew in comparable terms. The group's adjusted operating result increased to EUR 18.5 million from EUR 13.5 million, and the improvement was driven by Lindex division's gross profit improvement and disciplined cost management and Stockmann's improved gross profit and lower operating cost. Let us jump to the next page, please. With this slide, we would like to visualize the profitability performance over time, and the profitability for both division has improved significantly over the past years. Lindex continued to operate at a substantially higher earnings level than before the pandemic, demonstrating the strengths of its customer offering, our commercial execution, and profitability-focused growth strategy. Looking into the Stockmann division, has delivered a sustained turnaround in profitability. Following its first full-year positive adjusted operating result in 2025 after many years, the division has continued to strengthen its earning performance in 2026. With rolling 12-month adjusted operating result reaching its highest level in recent years. We can then turn page, please. Here, let's spend a few minutes reviewing our operating free cash flow development and capital expenditures. On the left-hand side here, we're showing the Lindex Group's operating free cash flow, and this is excluding the investment in the Lindex omnichannel distribution center. We came in at EUR -11.4 million, compared to EUR -17.3 million previous year. This is driven mainly by strong operational performance. Looking into the right-hand side, we see the operating free cash flow in a rolling 12-month perspective. For the Lindex division, it came in at EUR 90.4 million, for Stockmann division, it was EUR -25.3 million. Looking more specifically into the Stockmann division, the inventories ended up at EUR 58.0 million, versus EUR 54.1 million previous year. This increase is due to a business model change for one of our key brands. In addition, the planned later start of the seasonal clearance sale affected the inventories and thereby the result in operating free cash flow. We don't foresee this trend to continue. Looking into the inventories on group level, it decreased to EUR 174.9 million compared to previous year, EUR 183 million. Looking at Lindex division, the inventories at the end of the quarter decreased to EUR 116.9 million compared to EUR 129 million. This is supported by strong sales performance, active inventory management. Looking at Stockmann's division at the end of the quarter, we were above the comparison period, as I already mentioned. Looking into the second quarter, our capital expenditure ended up at EUR 6.9 million versus EUR 9.1 million previous year, which consisted of investment related to digitalization projects, omnichannel development, and the omnichannel distribution center. By the end of June, approximately EUR 104 million of the total omnichannel distribution center investment of EUR 110 million has been paid. We can go to the next page, please. Here we would like to take a closer look at our cash position, the graph presents the changes in cash position per item from the beginning of the year to the end of June in relation to the comparison period. At the end of June 2026, cash and cash equivalent ended up at EUR 103.9 million, compared to EUR 85 million in the comparison period. During the second quarter, a total cash flow was generated corresponding to EUR 32.2 million, versus EUR 32.5 million in the comparison period. Cash flow was impacted by the final transition of the OCDC building to Lindex. We can turn to the next page, please. Here we would like to illustrate how the Lindex Group's financial position has improved during the latest years, which has and will enable our future growth. In the graph here, you can see that the net debt has remained on a good level. Excluding the IFRS 16 items, the interest-bearing net debt was positive at EUR 30.7 million. Our equity ratio improved further and reached 65.6%, excluding IFRS items, and 33.3%, including IFRS items. The lease liabilities under the IFRS 16 reporting standard totaled at EUR 582.3 million. The lease liabilities related to the Lindex division came in at EUR 290.3 million compared to EUR 280.3 million previous year. The Stockmann division came in at EUR 292.5 million compared to EUR 318 million previous year. Our interest-bearing liabilities stood at EUR 73.1 million. After the reporting period in July 2026, the Lindex Group repaid its maturing senior secured bond of EUR 73.1 million. We can look into the next page, that is just to briefly summarize our Q2 result by saying that we saw good progress in the group's performance during the second quarter. The positive development in the Lindex division was mainly driven by improved gross profit and disciplined cost management. Stockmann's focused efforts on the division's strategic priorities continued to strengthen competitiveness and the gross profit improvement, together with operational and cost efficiency measures, improved profitability. With that, I would like to hand over to Susanne, who will pave the way forward. Thank you. Yes, thanks, Henrik. Let's now move, as Henrik said, to our way forward, starting with the Lindex division. For the Lindex division, we have established a solid foundation to accelerate global growth while continuing our transformation towards a more sustainable business. At the same time, we are improving scalability and efficiency to increasingly decouple costs from growth. Looking ahead on the next page, realizing long-term efficiency, cost savings, and growth benefits enabled by the omnichannel distribution center remains a top priority for us. We have begun to see positive efficiency benefits, and we expect this to increase gradually as operations continue to optimize. Our focus is also to continue strengthening our market presence and customers by reaching multi-channel growth. We will continue to grow in Denmark through our physical stores and also deepen our partnerships. Building on our progress, we will also continue enhancing the customer experience by strengthening our technology foundation further and continuing our AI journey to enable more efficient and scalable ways of working. At the same time, we will continue to advance our sustainability agenda, focusing on climate, circularity, and human rights to drive long-term value and support the transition to a more sustainable fashion industry. Looking at the Stockmann division strategy on the next page, our key target is to improve the financial sustainability and competitiveness of the division. Stockmann's division is strengthening its financial stability and competitiveness through four strategic must-win areas, which are to improve operational efficiency, differentiate through curating offering, and grow and leverage loyal customer base, and optimize omnichannel performance. Looking ahead on the next page, Stockmann will continue the disciplined execution of its strategy with a focus on profitability and competitiveness. The key priority remains, and systematic work on cost and operational efficiency supported by improved ways of working, processes, and digital capabilities and partnerships. At the same time, Stockmann will continue to strengthen its offering and customer relevance through a curated brand mix, including selected new partners and further developments on its own brands. Examples include the launch of the globally recognized Gap in Stockmann's assortment in September and the expansion of Essentials by Stockmann into menswear. The Helsinki flagship remains central to Stockmann's positioning, and the next renewal phase, starting this autumn, will support the development of evolving premium and luxury offering. The upgraded women's accessory area will further strengthen this flagship's position as a destination. Stockmann will also continue to strengthen their My Stockmann loyalty program, which celebrates its 40th anniversary this year with a focus on customer value and long-term engagement. Overall, Stockmann priorities for 2026 are clear: continued profitability improvement, stronger competitiveness through a relevant offering, and a deeper loyal customer relationship. By that, we now open up for questions from you. Very good. Let's take the first question to Susanne. What kind of measures and plans do you have to continue to secure positive revenue development for 2026 for the Lindex division? Thanks. First, if we just think overall for the group, our outlook remains, of course, subject to continued uncertainty, both in consumer confidence, in broader macroeconomic environment. However, we have clear priorities in place to support continued positive revenue development in 2026. This includes realizing the full benefits of the omnichannel distribution center, which I talked about, and ensuring reliable fulfillment and strong product availability, and also strengthening our product offering and customer experience. We are continuing with our work to expand our market presence through selected new stores and also strategic partnership. That should also improve the revenue development. Together, these measures support further revenue growth and will strengthen Lindex scalability and also competitiveness over time. Yes, thank you. We go over to the Stockmann division, and we could stay with you, Susanne, here. You mentioned in the report that you started the summer clearance sales later for Stockmann, and this affected the inventory levels and cash flow. Why such a planned decision? Yes. This has been part of our commercial planning and also execution, to support the targeted revenue and gross margin development. We expect the impacts on the inventory and cash flow to be timing related and thereby temporary. Thank you. We go over to the Lindex division and a question related to the omnichannel distribution center. This would go to Henrik. Do you intend to pursue a sale and leaseback transaction for the Lindex omnichannel distribution center now that the final transition has been completed? Well, we have not made any such decision at this point, and as with any significant business decision, potential alternatives will of course be considered and evaluated based on the group's strategic, operational, and financial priorities at the relevant time. Not any decision at this point. Thank you, Henrik. We stay at the omnichannel distribution center and its impact on the result development. Do you expect your new warehouse to have a negative impact going forward? I guess I can take this one, Magda, right? I would say during the past couple of months, we have seen that the transition to the OCDC has had an impact, particularly on our digital channels lately. However, we continue to make good progress and we are entering a new important phase. The focus that we have had is gradually now shifting from implementation towards stabilization to realizing also the long-term efficiency improvements, where we are talking about cost savings and also growth benefits enabled by this strategically important facility. Also, I can say that towards the end of this quarter, we began to see these positive cost efficiency effects, and we expect these to gradually also increase as operations continue to optimize. Therefore, we do not expect the OCDC to have any negative impact going forward, but rather to increasingly support both efficiency and scalability and also growth. Thank you, Susanne. Let's stay in this OCDC, so omnichannel distribution center topic, and we have a question from the audience, how its impact on our EBIT development. Do you rely on savings from the OCDC, omnichannel distribution center, to arrive at your EBIT guidance for the full year? Would that go to Susanne or Henrik? Maybe you can start, Henrik, and I can chip in if needed. Of course. Of course, we are expecting that we will, as already communicated, that we will see gradually improvements along with the stabilization of the OCDC, and that is of course also part of our assessment of the full year guidance. Thank you, Henrik. We have a question related to promotions and pricing impacts on gross margin. Is the promotion and pricing impact on gross margin you mentioned a calendar effect or a strategic decision regarding pricing and promotions? I can take that one. I think it was also answered in the first question. I guess it's related to the Stockmann division. It was a decision that we took as a management, thinking about our inventory level and that it would be smarter to push this to July, also thinking about the weather impacts and so on. That's the reasoning behind it. We go to the cost side and different cost elements. We have two different questions related to costs. First of all, about shipping costs. Do you see any impact from increased shipping costs yet that can impact the gross margin? I can take that one as well. If we look narrowing at the Q2, we can actually see that the inbound freight cost for Q2 has been lower than previous year. That has been following a trend of reduced sea freight cost that has then impacted positively on the Lindex division. We stay also on costs and that's their impact on gross margin. Any other noticeable shifts in input prices or production costs that can impact gross margin going forward? Overall, I think this is again maybe mostly a question reflecting to the Lindex division, but I think from our side, and also talking for Stockmann's side, we are always trying to navigate and handle any cost pressures that might come. Of course, the development that we have seen during the spring might have impact in certain materials, but therefore we try to then shift or change the usage so that it won't have an impact on the stock margin development. For this time and looking now at Q2, we don't see or foresee also in the nearby future that kind of negative impact. Thank you, Susanne. There is a question, I think this goes then to you, Susanne, regarding the strategic assessment. The strategic assessment of the future of the Stockmann division has been going on almost three years. Could you describe in more detail why the assessment has taken time, and what options have been considered, and how much longer do you think that the assessment will continue? Yes. A couple of questions in one question. I will try to navigate here. I think as you have probably heard before me saying, this kind of assessments are long and by nature extensive processes, and they require a deep, in-depth review considering different perspectives. It is the Lindex Group's Board of Directors that have been conducting this assessment to find the best possible solution for the company. Its employees and, of course, also shareholders. I don't have the possibility to comment the project and in details. What I can say regarding the Stockmann's business is that, of course, my work as a CEO and with all my colleagues, is to improve the business quarter- by- quarter, month by month and day by day, no matter where we will end up in this assessment. Thank you, Susanne. We go to Stockmann and inventory development. Regarding Stockmann, I'm struggling to reconcile the inventory development, the furniture exit, and the closure of the Itis department store should both have released working capital. Yet inventory still increased by around EUR 4 million. Could you walk us through the bridge from the last year's inventory to today's inventory and explain what accounts for that increase? Will the inventory increase improve total sales during H2, the latter part of the year? There were also many questions, so we maybe can take a little bit step by step, and I think this goes to Henrik Henriksson. Yes. Okay. First of all, looking into the comparison inventory level, there is no Itis department store inventory anymore, as Itis department store was closed in June 2025. A majority of the furniture assortment was also addressed at that time. The inventory levels have increased mainly due to the business model change for one of the key brands in the Stockmann division, as well as the planned later start of the seasonal clearance sale. We mainly expect this to be a timing related driver for the result. Very good. We have questions related to the dividend. When can the shareholders expect to get dividend from Lindex Group? Should I take that? Yes. Of course, any future dividend proposal would be subject to group's financing arrangement in place at the relevant time, in compliant with applicable covenants, financial covenants, et c, and the Board's assessment of the group's financial position, the liquidity, and also strategic priorities. As these factors may evolve, change over time, it would not be relevant to speculate on future dividend distribution today. Thank you, Henrik and Susanne. These were the questions what we have got from the audience. Very good. Thank you, Magda, for helping us with the questions. If you have, of course, any new question that comes up later, you can always be in touch with our investor relations email. We will also publish our Q3 result on October 22nd. I will see you in October at the latest. By that, all of us would like to thank you for listening and also have a nice day and a lovely summer.
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