Marimekko buoyant in Q4, expects 2021 growth as it targets Asia

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Feb 18, 2021

Marimekko said Thursday that its fourth quarter was strong and full-year 2020’s net sales almost reached the 2019 figure, despite the pandemic, while comparable operating profit rose in double-digits.

Q4 net sales rose by 8% to €37.4 million, boosted by a favourable trend in wholesale in Finland, EMEA and Scandinavia. Non-recurring promotional deliveries, in particular, contributed to the Finnish increase. 

And while Covid’s second wave affected store footfall, online sales continued to perform strongly, supporting total retail sales, which “declined quite moderately considering the circumstances”.

Comparable operating profit grew to €5.8 million from €3 million, helped by falling fixed costs, although the shift to online did mean higher logistics costs.

Full-year net sales declined only 1% to €123.6 million, hurt by a drop in retail sales in Finland, North America and Scandinavia as well as a wholesale fall in the Asia-Pacific region. But again, online boomed. Comparable operating profit rose 18% to €20.2 million for the year.

The company expects sales for this year to rise, while the comparable operating profit margin should be “on a par with the long-term goal of 15%”. However, there’s still plenty of uncertainty around this forecast.

CEO Tiina Alahuhta-Kasko said that in “the worst crisis in decades”, the firm’s “long-term work to develop the Marimekko brand and our digital business, our comprehensive range of lifestyle products, a diverse business and distribution channel model, and our ability to adjust our operations rapidly are among the factors which helped us successfully navigate in an extremely difficult operating environment”.

She added that plans for this year “include further strengthening the building blocks of international growth by investing in digital business, seamless omnichannel customer experience, sustainability and brand awareness. It is also important to continuously develop the competences of our personnel to work in a rapidly changing operating environment. 

“Combined with the work we have been doing for years already, these investments provide us with an excellent stepping stone to the next phase of international growth, targeting Asia in particular”.