Surely in good times, more can be gotten out of the machine, as purchasing power and consumer confidence have been weak.
There would probably also have been room for improvement in integrations when they bought many companies.
Karhu Hylje will surely answer better, he knows a lot about these things.
The gem among these was Tran-am (even 19.8% operating profit)
One would hope that analysts would tell how these acquired companies are doing now.. The figures themselves are probably behind paywalls. What about inquiries from management? They certainly have time to make all sorts of “extended” videos among themselves. Usually, I stop already at the question, “Can you tell me what the company does?” 
Could it be that TranAm’s operating profit was made to look excellent for a couple of years through some trickery, and then after the acquisition, the reality turned out to be different? A 16-19% EBITDA margin in wholesale trade sounds incredibly high.
With the current revenue, I believe the stock should be a fairly reasonable buy even with a 5% EBITDA margin. With Duell’s previously achieved nearly 9% EBITDA margins, the stock price already looks ridiculously cheap. A TranAm-level over 15% would be phenomenal.
Yeah, I don’t know. I understand the temporary market weakness with consumers being tight, but one would think such a situation would be exploited by insiders. However, there are hardly any insider purchases, even at the current dirt-cheap price. That’s why I’ve started to suspect that there might be some bigger hidden problem in the acquisitions made a few years ago, and the company’s management is aware of it. I’ve tried to dig into the matter from the
Early next year will mark three years since this UK deal. So if something had been concealed, it would be a disclosure offense. I certainly don’t believe that.
Someone dug up those British figures above at some point. Scroll up the thread.
TRAN-AM LIMITED filing history - Find and update company information - GOV.UK
Société TECNO GLOBE : Chiffre d’affaires, statuts, extrait d’immatriculation
Tran-Am has indeed performed quite well according to public sources. Figures for the latest financial period were not available, but its development was even praised in connection with the financial statement release, so I assume it’s doing quite well. France’s TecnoGlobe is now the clear cause for concern as revenue and profitability outright collapsed last year. If France had performed as before, Duell’s entire EBITA would have been €3 million better and almost at a record level. In itself, pointless speculation because a quick return to old levels is not in sight there, but likely towards the end of the current financial period, the level can already be improved. The next couple of quarters, weakness will likely continue, but in the long term, these brand changes could even be good. For Duell, it is now important to monitor how the winter develops. Duell has a very strong market position in the snowmobiling segment, and it is hoped that there are good snow conditions even in the north and snowmobiles are moving. Good profitability and at the same time reducing inventory levels 
Of course, on the other hand, there are one-off costs related to the warehouse arrangements in Tampere and France.
Regarding Duell’s current market areas, in Finland, according to recent consumer confidence statistics, consumers continue their recovery. In addition, according to September retail turnover indicators, segments relevant to Duell (motorcycle accessories +5% compared to the previous year, motor vehicle maintenance and repair +10%) were ahead of last year. Snowmobile registrations as a whole are also slightly stronger this autumn than last year. The Snowmobile Fair set a new visitor record this year.
In Sweden, consumers have also continued their recovery, and from the local statistics agency’s retail sales data, I have also found quite good development compared to last year in categories most related to Duell (bicycles, sports shops). In France, on the other hand, we are ( Titre | Insee) at the same levels as last year.
In Norway, consumer confidence has improved and is generally doing well, but the UK had subdued retail sales figures in October.
So, those are some observations from Duell’s markets during the autumn. I am hopeful if good snow conditions materialize, at least in the north. Unfortunately, France is now what creates uncertainty. In my opinion, by following the market, we successfully anticipated the stronger-than-expected Q4 figures, but the change in France’s brand portfolio and the resulting weak guidance simply could not be seen from the outside.
Thanks for these expert comments. It’s nice to read them, and the direction also looks better, especially with the stock still at ATL.
Let me add that consumer confidence has improved especially among men, and to my understanding, men are a larger user group for Duell’s products than women:
But Finland, of course, only has its own limited share of Duell’s turnover.
Is it specified somewhere how much each product category contributes to the turnover? I.e., if one product category is doing well, doesn’t that mean another is doing worse, so can one really conclude much from, for example, Lumi?
It hasn’t been precisely articulated. One can certainly infer a lot from the snow, and it has been reflected in the numbers in previous years. The fact that there is no snow in Finland in winter does not mean that motorcycles or boats are used more. ATVs are used year-round. Boating is strongly affected by summer weather, and that isn’t really compensated for by anything else. Of course, Duell’s turnover is geographically widespread, and somewhere there is always better-than-average weather for Duell.
Duell has not opened these much itself. Acquired targets go into a black box and only consolidated figures are reported.
Some active individuals have dug into country-specific financial statements and other public sources
At least I have the impression that TranAm is a perfectly good business. It was just bought in a hot market where the figures were a bit too good, and too high multiples were paid for them. In hindsight, it can be stated that it would not have been worth buying in a hot market.
Duell’s market value is ridiculously low IF goods circulate without any massive discount campaigns and French operations can be made to run normally.
However, there are possibilities that the inventory value is overstated, or it must be sold at a discount = either the goods do not circulate and rot in the warehouse, tying up capital, or they are sold at a loss. French operations and other fumbling with brands can anger customers, leading to lost sales or partnerships. If there are setbacks in the business, financing can quickly become critical, and a share issue or similar may be necessary as covenants are breached.
No matter what happens, in a year or two, it will be easy to boast, ‘I told you so.’
“Duell’s equity ratio on August 31, 2025, was 55.1% (55.0%)”
“Duell’s net debt on August 31, 2025, was 20.2 million euros (19.6 million euros). Duell’s net debt on August 31, 2025, relative to adjusted EBITDA for the past 12 months was 3.3x (2.8x). The covenant terms were not met at the end of the reporting period.”
The balance sheet would be quite OK if only EBITDA were at least at a satisfactory level.
Duell’s market value is now 16 MEUR.
Revenue just under 130 MEUR.
It is not realistic to expect margins to rise particularly high, but even with quite small profitabilities, a significant amount of net income and cash flow could be generated relative to market value. For example, in Inderes’ forecasts for 2029, EPS(adj) = €0.82 if EBITDA% = 5.2
It’s not worth looking as far as 2029 yet, but it illustrates how low the EBITDA margin is for the company’s valuation PE(adj)<4
IF the business were to do even reasonably well, the stock is cheap as dirt.
In light of that, I have wondered about this:
After 2023, insiders have only bought a couple of shares:
Since Duell has two main owners, it seems unlikely that a takeover bid is coming.
The value of the ownership stake of parties other than the Hartwalls is \~10 MEUR. With a 50% premium, the Hartwalls could try to buy the entire company off the stock exchange by paying 15 MEUR.
I think there should now also be a small option for inventory levels, as last year goods were left in stock due to a bad winter. Spare parts do not expire. Overalls then have last year’s colors.
CEO’s review from Tuesday’s Shareholders’ Meeting 
The CEO talks about 40 years of success. Hasn’t this stock market listing been a disaster, even though revenue has certainly grown?
Hard to say if it’s all deserved or if there’s already an overreaction?
Just over 2% of the value left compared to the beginning. Quite a wild creation of shareholder value.
Yes, I believe that the CEO and management admit that the last few years have not gone perfectly (as in Strömsö). But that does not mean that Duell has not been a steadily growing and successful company since the 80s.
Duell Plc announced on September 22, 2025, that it would initiate an efficiency plan related to its Tampere warehouse operations, with the aim of reducing the number of Nordic warehouses from three to two by transferring the Tampere warehouse operations, which focus on bicycle products, to Mustasaari and Tranås, Sweden. Change negotiations concerning Oy Duell Bike-Center Ab’s Tampere warehouse operations began on September 29, 2025, applying local negotiation requirements with employee representatives.
The company has concluded the change negotiations. As a result of the negotiations, the reduction in personnel totals nine positions. The original estimate for the reduction in job positions was a maximum of 15 positions. The transfer will be completed by the end of March 2026.
The measure is estimated to achieve annual savings of approximately EUR 400,000 and will result in one-off costs of approximately EUR 350,000 for the first half of the 2026 financial year.
A Finnish Spare Part Distributor Trading Below “Liquidation Value”
The stock is down 97% since its 2021 IPO, now trading at 0.5x tangible book and 0.54x NCAV - a Net-Net.
Covenant breach seems resolved, but leverage (ND/EBITDA 3.3x) remains a key challenge. Streamlining underway. France still weak, but UK and Nordics stable. Asset-backed balance sheet, potential buyout optionality at distressed valuation.
The full write-up can be read here: Duell (DUELL) – A Finnish Spare Part Distributor Net-Net in a Weak Market, Meaningful Upside if Turnaround is Successful - Ripe for a Buyout?
If anyone who knows the case better thinks we are off in any assumptions we would love to hear your thoughts. (long DUELL)
I started looking into your analysis, but right at the start, the credibility of the text is undermined by the fact that the image shows the building of the wrong Duell company.
EDIT. Heh, the updated one is more realistic now 
fair enough - many thanks for pointing that out! It has now been corrected.
I think you had some good analysis, thank you for that.
You raised many good points and also talked about the risks. Consumers can now help us owners get the company into balance. I knew many things, but I didn’t know that Hartwall is also a large owner of Pierce Group. Thanks for the information.
