Q2 2026 Bjorn Borg AB Earnings Call Transcript
Key Points
- Own e-commerce sales grew 17% in Q2, with apparel up 28%, and profitability and gross margins in this channel remain very strong.
- Gross margin improved by 5.6 percentage points, driven by reduced discounts, favorable currency effects, and a higher share of high-margin e-commerce sales.
- Operating profit increased 11% year-over-year despite lower sales, and the first half of 2026 was the most profitable in the company's history.
- The junior collection grew 53% year-over-year, and the new golf category launched with strong sell-through, showing the brand's ability to expand into new segments.
- Net debt decreased significantly, and working capital remained stable at around 20-21% of rolling 12-month sales, reflecting solid financial management.
- Return on ad spend for performance marketing reached record highs, up 34-35% year-over-year, indicating strong potential for further e-commerce investment.
- Total sales declined 12% in Q2, breaking a streak of 25 consecutive quarters of growth, and first-half sales were slightly below last year.
- Wholesale sales were a major disappointment, with a weaker order book and early deliveries impacting performance, and the company is not satisfied with the underlying trend.
- Footwear sales continued to decline, with significant drops in the Netherlands and Belgium, despite growth in own e-commerce and Sweden.
- Retail comparable store sales fell 5%, with traffic dropping during the summer, and the company is struggling to grow in Germany, where the consumer outlook remains pessimistic.
- The company's growth is overly dependent on a few large wholesale accounts, and a broader base of partners is needed to reduce vulnerability to individual account decisions.
- The company is not on track to meet its 10% sales growth target, and management acknowledges that growth needs to improve across all channels.
Good morning, guys. And welcome to our Q2 presentation for 2026.
So presenting this quarter comes with a bit of mixed feelings. If we start with the good things, on one hand, of course, we see very strong own e-com growth. Almost all categories within e-com is doing really, really well.
Even Footwear is growing. It is increasing profitability, very strong gross margins. So that is clearly the highlight of the quarter.
However, of course, when we look into the overall sales development, that is a disappointment. We are behind last year, which means that we come from 25 consecutive quarters with growth. That stops right now, and, of course, that is a big disappointment and something that we are absolutely not happy with.
So sales is declining. It is related to our Wholesale customers coming into the year with a bit of a poor order book; also, of course, related to early deliveries.
But even if we look at the half-year numbers, we are slightly behind last year. So, here, we simply need to do a lot better,
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