Q4 2024 - Financial highlights
• Net revenue was SEK 318.4 (301.6) million, corresponding to a rise of 5.5% (-22.1%)
• Gross profit was SEK 169.7 (150.9) million, corresponding to a gross margin of 53.3% (50.0%)
• Operating profit was SEK 36.2 (24.0) million, corresponding to an operating margin of 11.4% (8.0%)
• Profit after tax was SEK 36.3 (19.7) million, corresponding to earnings per share of SEK 1.21 (0.66)
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 71.8 (50.4) million
• Cash and cash equivalents amounted to SEK 196.9 (121.1) million as at 31 December and credit facilities were unutilised
2024 - financial highlights of the full year
• Net revenue was SEK 1,094.3 (1,060.8) million, corresponding to a rise of 3.2% (-18.3%)
• Gross profit was SEK 581.4 (507.9) million, corresponding to a gross margin of 53.1% (47.9%)
• Operating profit was SEK 93.1 (10.9) million, corresponding to an operating margin of 8.5% (1.0%)
• Profit after tax was SEK 83.4 (-1.5) million, corresponding to earnings per share of SEK 2.78 (-0.06).
• Cash flow from operating activities was SEK 154.5 (59.3) million
Significant events during the quarter
• During the quarter, Nelly Group AB (publ) held an Extraordinary General Meeting at which a dividend of SEK 0.83 per ordinary share was adopted, to be paid out in December 2024. The Extraordinary General Meeting also resolved to set up a share programme for senior executives at Nelly, and the number of shares and votes in Nelly Group AB (publ) increased by 10,847 in December 2024 following the private placement resolved by the meeting.
Significant events after end of quarter
• No material events have been reported since the end of the quarter.
Further improved result for the quarter and the year as a whole
IIn the fourth quarter, we delivered a markedly improved result compared to the same quarter last year. Net revenue grew by 5.5% (-22.1%) to SEK 318.4 (301.6) million. The gross margin increased to 53.3% (50.0%), contributing to an operating profit of SEK 36.2 (24.0) million and an operating margin of 11.4% (8.0%) for the quarter. Profit after tax amounted to SEK 36.3 (19.7) million and Nelly has thus delivered its seventh consecutive profitable quarter and its third consecutive quarter of net revenue growth.
The result for the full year 2024 also improved. Net revenue grew by 3.2% (-18.3%) to SEK 1,094.3 (1,060.8) million, and we achieved an operating profit of SEK 93.1 (10.9) million with an operating margin of 8.5% (1.0%). Profit after tax for 2024 increased to SEK 83.4 (-1.5) million.
Unchanged focus on profitable growth
The core of our business, the assortment, continued to perform better and better during the year. In 2024, we achieved the highest sell-through rate since our transformation journey began in autumn 2022, and our offering was further strengthened in several important categories during the year, in particular jeans, tops and knitwear, which together form the basis of our customers' everyday wardrobe. The share of sales form Nelly's own brands continued to increase to 47.2% (36.3%) during Q4, and several external brands delivered strong growth. One important focus area going forward is to further develop and improve our brand portfolio. Overall, the assortment was well received by customers, as reflected in the markedly improved return rate of 27.9% (33.0%) for the quarter and 29.9% (35.8%) for the full year.
Investment in our marketing continued with positive results in the fourth quarter. Marketing costs as a percentage of net revenue increased to 9.7% (8.6%), resulting in higher traffic than in the previous year as well as strengthened profitability per order. The number of orders in the Nordics also increased during the quarter, and we started to see a positive trend with more new customers and declining churn among existing customers. Our focus going forward is on further optimising the effectiveness of all paid advertising and increasing both conversion rate and average order value to drive profitable growth.
In addition to the further progress made in the assortment and marketing during the year, our warehousing and distribution costs as a percentage of net revenue also improved during the fourth quarter to 12.7% (15.1%). The lower return rate contributed positively, the cost per handled order fell, and outbound freight costs decreased following several optimisation initiatives, which will allow for good cost control in the coming quarters.
The next phase in Nelly's development
In 2024, we continued to make progress on the road towards being a healthy business, and it is a sign of strength that Nelly was able to award its first dividend to shareholders at the end of the year. Despite this, great potential for improvement remains in many areas of the company, and in 2025, we look forward to further developing our customer offer and continuing to simplify internal processes, not least through the IT system changes planned for this year. In many ways, we are now embarking on a new phase of our development as a company as we have created a stable business foundation and can now focus even more wholeheartedly on becoming the preferred fashion destination for our target group. In conclusion, I would like to once again say a warm thank you to all our customers, both new and existing, and of course turn the spotlight on the entire Nelly team who truly inspire me every day.
Helena Karlinder-Östlundh,
CEO Nelly Group AB
Nelly Group AB (publ)
Box 690
501 13 Borås, Sweden
Corp. ID 556035-6940
Registered office: Borås
Visiting adress: Lundbygatan 1, Borås
Webcast on the year-end report 2024
Analysts, investors and the media are invited to a webcast presentation of Q4 on 6 February at 9 a.m. The presentation will be given in English by Helena Karlinder-Östlundh, CEO, and Niklas Lingblom, CFO. The webcast will be made available on the Nelly Group website.
Link to webcast: https://nelly.videosync.fi/2025-02-06-q4
To listen to the presentation by phone, the following call-in details are available:
- Finland: +358 9 4245 0972
- Sweden: +46 8 525 07003
- United Kingdom: +44 20 7043 5048
- United States: +1 (774) 450-9900
Conference ID: 5003916#
User ID: 35911#
For more information, please contact:
Niklas Lingblom, CFO
+46 70 002 22 41
ir@nelly.com
About Nelly Group
Nelly Group operates nelly.com which is one of the Nordic region's strongest fashion brands for young women and nlyman.com. The core is the own brand in combination with digital sales directly to our target group. Nelly has created a strong commitment through a high degree of fashion and digital marketing. The company has 0.9 million customers and sales of SEK 1.1 billion per year. The group was previously called Qliro Group. Nelly Groups is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm in the small-cap segment with the ticker "NELLY".
This information is information that Nelly Group is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at 2025-02-06 08:00 CET.
