Marimekko: Consumer behavior likely to change – Evli Research

All market areas were impacted by the coronavirus

COVID-19 hampered all Marimekko’s market areas which led to a decline in net sales (-8%). Net sales totaled EUR 24.9m (27.9m/25.4m Evli/cons). Finland was the only market area with a positive sales development (+6%) in Q1. Net sales in the second largest market area APAC, declined by 28% y/y. Wholesale sales in APAC fell by -30% y/y not only due to the coronavirus but also as the corresponding figures in the comparison period were high due to an exceptional delivery pattern. Relative sales margin was affected by increased logistics costs and nonrecurring expenses resulting from the relocation of the company’s main warehouse. Decline in sales and weakened relative sales margin weighed down adj. EBIT which was EUR 1.2m vs. EUR 1.7m/1.4m Evli/cons.

Consumers likely to become more cautious

Our expectations for the upcoming months are not high as the movement restrictions and the temporary closure of stores will no doubt have a significant negative impact on Marimekko’s sales and profit. The company’s online store supports the business in some level as the online sales have increased significantly, though the management did not provide information regarding the magnitude of this. The outlook for ’20 wholesale sales in Asia is affected by the temporary closure of partner-owned stores and changing customer sentiment. At the same time, domestic wholesale sales in ’20 are boosted by nonrecurring promotional deliveries, which will be mainly taking place during H2. Going forward, the globally weakening economic outlook and declining purchasing power will have a negative impact on consumer behavior. We expect retail sales and wholesale sales to decline by 12% and 11%, respectively in 20E.

“HOLD” (“BUY”) with TP of EUR 24 (28)

We have cut our 20E sales expectation by ~4% and adj. EBIT expectation by ~8%. The company expects COVID-19 to have a significant negative impact on sales and profit in ‘20 but did not provide more detailed guidance at this point. Due to the weakening economic outlook we have also cut our 21E-22E sales expectation by 7-9% and adj. EBIT expectation by 10-12%. On our estimates, Marimekko trades at 20E-21E EV/EBIT multiple of 17.3x and 10.3x, which translates into 50-60% discount compared to the luxury peers. We downgrade to “HOLD” (“BUY”) with TP of EUR 24 (28).