Outlook and guidance

Outlook and guidance for 2024 (March 7, 2024)

Trading outlook for 2024 is improving as evidenced by better operational performance in the second half of 2023. Retail inventories are finally returning to regular levels allowing normalized flow of goods to the market. The North American economic outlook is still somewhat cautious; however, consumer discretionary spending is steadier with a bigger appetite for consumer goods rather than bigger ticket durable items. The ice fishing business in North America experienced its second year of poor ice conditions which will have negative impact on the presales of the season 2024/2025. In Europe, consumer discretionary spending remains cautious, and retailers are shifting more to in-season purchases and lower presales commitments, relying more on supplier inventories.

In operations, year 2024 will be the first full year of centralized manufacturing operations in our Pärnu facility. At the same time our European distribution operations are engaged in improving profitability and efficiency, and the focus is to further streamline and integrate the two major logistics hubs for North and South Europe. Lastly, full integration of 13 Fishing products into our strong US sales network is expected to release synergies.

Consequently, the Group expects 2024 full year comparable operating profit (excluding mark-to-market valuations of operative currency derivatives and other items affecting comparability) to increase from 2023.