Finnish Retailer Stockmann Sees Better Times Ahead

Stockmann, a Finnish premium department store chain, posted a rise in fourth-quarter earnings on Friday and said it expected the positive development to continue as long as no major COVID-19 restrictions are imposed again, Anna Kauranen reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: Stockman Tallinn

The 160-year-old retailer has been in dire straits after it entered the online shopping market late and suffered heavy losses in Russia but seems to have put the worst behind despite the pandemic impact.

"Stockmann expects an increase in the group's revenue and that the adjusted operating result will be clearly positive," it said in its outlook for 2022.

Stockmann has gone through heavy cost-cutting in recent years, and the chain announced in January that it had sold its store buildings in Estonia and Latvia as planned in its eight-year restructuring plan.

"Stockmann Plc systematically implemented the corporate restructuring program approved on February 9, 2021, and the key measures were accomplished at a rapid rate," Chief Executive Officer Jari Latvanen said in a statement.

The retailer said its October-December operating profit was 50.6 million euros ($56.8 million), versus a loss of 256 million in the same quarter a year ago.

After selling its profitable grocery stores to a competitor, Stockmann has relied on women's clothing brand Lindex, which posted a profit of 74.6 million euros for full-year 2021, up from 38.8 million in 2020.

The chain said the pandemic had hurt its businesses in 2021 by creating challenges for international logistics and by reducing customer footfall. "However, visits to department stores and fashion stores picked up from the levels seen in 2020, and online shopping also continued to grow strongly in 2021," Stockmann said.

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