Qliro Group AB (publ.): Interim Report for 1 January – 31 March 2016

STOCKHOLM–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Regulatory News:

First Quarter

• Net sales amounted to SEK 1,171.3 (1,196.5) million
• EBITDA excluding non-recurring items amounted to SEK -20.0 (-7.4)
  million
• Operating earnings excluding non-recurring items amounted to SEK -34.3
  (-16.4) million. Operating earnings including non-recurring items
  amounted to SEK -49.7 (-34.3) million
• Net income after tax amounted to SEK -40.5 (-29.4) million
• Earnings per share amounted to SEK -0.27 (-0.20)
• Cash flow from operations amounted to SEK -220.6 (-218.3) million
• Including changes in Qliro (STO:QLRO) Financial Services’ consumer
  lending, cash flow from operations amounted to SEK -169.0 (-219.9)
  million

CEO statement

Paul Fischbein, CEO comments: ”During the first quarter, Qliro Financial
Services continued to develop in line with our high expectations. The
business volume increased by 52% while operating income increased by a
full 161% to SEK 47 million. Operating earnings (EBT) increased
significantly and amounted to SEK -4.9 million compared to SEK -13.3
million last year. We expect that Qliro Financial Services soon will
receive approval to become a credit market company, and the company has
continued preparations for the launch on the Norwegian market. This,
together with the introduction of additional financial services, will be
the next big step in the company’s development.

For our retail businesses the quarter in general was affected by the,
calendar wise, early Easter and the weakened Norwegian krone.
Additionally, the mild weather has led to campaign-driven sales and a
lower gross margin, not least for Nelly. At the same time we see
positive signs that are expected to lead to substantial earnings effects
during the year.

Nelly’s focus on reducing cost and profitable growth has started to show
results and the operating margin increased during the quarter. Nelly’s
sales increase was mainly driven by strong growth in Sweden, amounting
to 17%. The margin improvement was achieved even though the company has
conducted extensive campaigns as a result of the mild winter and a
clearance-driven fashion market in the Nordics. Focus going forward will
be on improving the product margin, something which will be supported by
the fact the company has a sound inventory after the campaigns during
the quarter. Nelly has also, in April, given notice to approximately 35
employees at the offices in Borås and Stockholm. This is never an easy
decision, but necessary and important in order to strengthen the company
and create an organization and cost structure suited to the continued
implementation of the company’s Nordic strategy.

At Lekmer, we see that the quality of the warehouse operations in
Arlandastad has increased substantially, with improvements in both
delivery times and delivery quality. The delivery quality is now in line
with where it should be and the fact that Lekmer once again reports
increased visits and orders during the quarter is an important sign that
our customers believe in Lekmer. Costs at the warehouse are however
still high, but we hope to soon reach a solution which will reduce the
cost level significantly.

Within CDON Marketplace, sales generated for external merchants
(Marketplace) grew by around 20% in the quarter. This is an important
development for the company and, as part of this development, we are of
course very pleased that CDON has been able to add Adlibris as a
merchant on CDON Marketplace. The next exciting initiative from CDON
will be the launch of Green Friday, the Black Friday of the Spring, at
the end of April.

Lastly, we can now see that the actions taken at Gymgrossisten in 2015
to secure continued strong profitability are starting to show results
and the margins in the first quarter are at a satisfactory level.

The Groups financial position remains sound with cash and cash
equivalents of over SEK 130 million. Moreover, we have also, with own
funding, financed Qliro’s loans to the public with around SEK 150
million.”

About Qliro Group

Qliro Group is a leading e-commerce group in the Nordic region.
Established in 1999, the Group has expanded its product portfolio and is
now a leading e-commerce player within consumer goods and lifestyle
products through CDON.com, Lekmer, Nelly (Nelly.com, NLYman.com,
Members.com), Gymgrossisten (Gymgrossisten.com/Gymsector.com,
Bodystore.com, Milebreaker.com) and Tretti. The payment service solution
Qliro is also part of the Group. In 2015, the Group generated revenue of
SEK 5.2 billion. Qliro Group’s shares are listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm
MidCap list under the ticker symbol “QLRO”.

The information in this interim report is that which Qliro Group AB is
required to disclose under the Securities Markets Act. This information
was released for publication at 08:00 CET on 19 April 2016.

This information was brought to you by Cision http://news.cision.com

Contacts

Qliro Group
Paul Fischbein, +46 (0) 10 703 20 00
President and
Chief Executive Officer
or
Nicolas Adlercreutz, +46 (0) 70 587
44 88
CFO
or
Press, investor and analyst enquiries:
Erik
Löfgren, +46 (0) 700 80 75 06
Head of Communications
press@qlirogroup.com,
ir@qlirogroup.com