Strong order intake and significantly higher operating profit
Fourth quarter 2024
• The order intake increased 37.2% compared with last year and amounted to SEK 916.1 M (667.8). Adjusted for exchange rate fluctuations, the order intake rose 38.5%.
• Net sales amounted to SEK 630.0 M (800.6), a decline of 21.3 percent compared with the same quarter last year.
• Gross profit increased 7.0 percent to SEK 152.0 M (142.0).
• Operating profit increased to SEK 50.8 M (18.3), which corresponds to an operating margin of 8.1 percent (2.3).
• Operating profit before depreciation, amortization and impairment rose to SEK 70.1 M (48.4).
• Cash flow from operating activities amounted to SEK 78.2 M (55.9) for the quarter.
• Order backlog amounted to SEK 726 M (394).
• Profit for the quarter increased to SEK 33.2 M (3.6).
• Earnings per share (basic and diluted) were SEK 0.20 (0.02).
• In December, Pricer issued bonds of SEK 300 M.
Comments from President and CEO Magnus Larsson
2024 was a year in which Pricer's profitability improved substantially and we ended the year with a very strong order book and the highest full-year earnings in the company's history. The earnings improvement was a result of our successful implementation of the savings program announced in December 2023, but also our continuous efforts to improve the company's efficiency. Following a year of transformative efforts to ensure our long-term competitiveness and profitability, we will focus on further growth activities in 2025.
Strong order intake and order book
The order intake for the fourth quarter increased to SEK 916.1 M (667.8), meaning that we closed the year with an order book of SEK 726 M, the second highest level ever for Pricer and the company's highest ever order intake for the year at SEK 2,918.4 M (2,576.0). During the quarter, we received follow-up orders from the Finnish company S Group for more than 100 stores and from the Canadian company Sobeys for the installation of 5 million electronic shelf labels, starting in the second quarter of 2025, with an expected value of SEK 485 M.
Net sales for the quarter declined to SEK 630.0 M (800.6) and were impacted by a gradual decrease in installations in France among storeowners and two major French retail chains whose installations peaked in the fourth quarter of last year.
In addition to the sales decline in France in the fourth quarter, net sales for the full year of SEK 2,558.0 M (2,681.2) were impacted by delayed orders from two major customers as communicated in the interim report for the second quarter. The situation normalized during the autumn and both customers have started placing orders as expected. Excluding expected volume declines in France in the fourth quarter and the impact from the aforementioned major customers, other customers and markets grew by more than 15 percent for the full year. Our recurring revenue from Pricer Plaza is continuing to grow and rose SEK 17.2 M during the year, which is an increase of 89 percent.
The company's highest ever profit
Pricer's internal transformation process is continuing to have positive effects on our profitability. In addition, our continuous efforts to reduce costs for components and production, together with a focus on sales of solutions with clear added value for our customers, have continued to increase our gross margin, which for the full year was up a full 5 percentage points compared with last year.
Operating profit increased to SEK 50.8 M (18.3) for the fourth quarter and thus amounted to SEK 190.5 M (9.8) for the full year, which is the company's highest ever profit and corresponds to an operating margin of 7.4 percent - close to our financial profitability target of an operating margin exceeding 8 percent. Profit for the year of SEK 131.9 M (-48.3) means that the company has returned to reporting a profit and this is also the company's highest profit to date.
Another significant event was our refinancing of our SEK 250 M loan from Ture Invest through the issuance of a SEK 300 M public bond, which will reduce our future interest expenses by 2.85 percentage points on an annual basis, and also creates scope for increased growth.
Innovation and strategic partnerships
At NRF 2025, the National Retail Federation's Big Show in New York, one of the largest retail tech trade shows in the world, we introduced our latest innovation, Pricer Avenue, a groundbreaking shelf display and communication system that fundamentally redefines traditional shelf edge labeling and store communication. Pricer Avenue has been specifically designed to revolutionize in-store communication and to elevate the shopper experience in the aisles. The concept, which combines Scandinavian design and modular technology, includes the thinnest and most sophisticated label on the market, but also an integrated shelf edge rail that powers the labels and other compatible IoT devices, eliminating the need for batteries. In addition, the rail can be used for in-store communication, transforming miles of underutilized shelf space into an integrated and dynamic communication channel. The market response was enormously positive and the first pilots are scheduled for launch in the latter part of 2025.
We have also continued to develop our partner strategy to become more dynamic and focused. The ambition is to work with a small number of highly strategic partners that enable our shared solutions to generate clear added value for customers. Developments in retail tech are moving extremely fast and by aligning with other cutting-edge companies in various specialist areas, we can better, faster and more efficiently develop solutions that meet the current and future needs of the market.
At NRF, we aslo presented our new partnership with Focal Systems, a leader in shelf-edge AI, the integrated retail media solution we offer together with Visual Art and our expanded collaboration with Google. In addition, Pricer became one of the first providers to be listed on Google Cloud Marketplace, which makes it easier for our customers to manage their Pricer Plaza engagement, while providing us with better opportunities to sell our services to Google's global retail customers.
Focus on growth in 2025
The market for retail digitization is accelerating and is expected to continue growing for many years to come. Looking ahead to 2025, we have a well-defined strategy focusing on profitable growth and continue our successful transformation of recent years. After having laid a foundation of stronger profitability, we are now ready to enhance our growth initiatives, both in terms of sales and offering.
Our future strategy is to increasingly work with our own and direct customer contact in key markets to maximize the value of our delivery and to meet major customers' requests for a direct relationship since our solutions are increasingly considered to be strategic. In connection to the termination of the contract with our reseller StrongPoint, we will build up a team during the spring with a focus on the Nordics and Baltic countries to serve existing customers but of course also to win new ones. We see many opportunities to increase both sales and profitability on this market over time.
In summary, I see great opportunities for Pricer in 2025. More and more retail chains, both large and small, are realizing that digitalization is vital for leading staff, implementing new commercial strategies and improving the customer experience and thereby their own competitiveness and profitability.
Magnus Larsson
President and CEO
For further information, please contact:
Magnus Larsson, President and CEO, +46 704 316851
Claes Wenthzel, acting CFO, +46 70 862 01 22
info@pricer.com
This information constitutes inside information that Pricer AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014. The information was sent for publication, through the agency of the contact persons set out above, at the time stated by the Company's news distributor, Cision, at the publication of this press release.
Every care has been taken in the translation of this document. In the event of discrepancies, the Swedish original will supersede the English translation.
About Pricer
Pricer is a leading global technology company serving the rapidly growing smart retail market with in-store digital solutions that enhance both store performance and the shopping experience. Through electronic shelf labels, advanced technology, such as optical wireless communication and AI, and continuous innovation, Pricer offers the foundation for in-store communication and efficiency. The industry-leading Pricer platform delivers benefits from 30 years of deployment experience and is fast, robust, interconnectable and scalable. Pricer was founded in Sweden in 1991 and is listed on Nasdaq Stockholm. For further information, please visit www.pricer.com
