I think that from Keva’s perspective, it’s really important to keep Stockmann as a tenant in that property. It’s hard to imagine any other party wanting it, and that wouldn’t be good for Keva.
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I can’t judge whether the rent level of the city center department store is normal or high, but I believe it has been noted here before that the city center store is profitable. And while all individual department stores may be profitable on their own, other costs such as administration and division overheads drag the overall result into the red.
Department stores and Stockmann have the potential to run a profitable business from a gross margin (44%) perspective. Personally, I feel that a clear challenge in the department store business is the high personnel costs relative to revenue. Department stores require a certain minimum number of sales staff, as they are a central part of the customer experience. This is where department stores differ from many other retail concepts.
Last year, Susanne stated in an interview with Arvopaperi magazine that “At Stockmann, our medium-term goal is a five percent operating profit margin, and that is what we are aiming for. But of course, it’s no easy task.”
Of course, it would be nice if rents could be lowered, but I suppose that’s just utopian wishful thinking. My own view is that for Stockmann, the savings have already been achieved, and now the focus should be on increasing revenue.
It would be interesting to consider how much more revenue Stockmann would need, and from where and how it would come.
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Things looked good at the Stockmann in Jumbo, as the checkout lines were really long. In my opinion, the speculation by a few users here about the weakness of Christmas sales is not fully justified.
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In my own portfolio, units of at least the following companies have been up for sale: KH-group - Indoor, Wärtsilä - Energy Storage, Tieto - Tech Services. What they have in common is that if they have sold recently, they have had to sell at an undervalue. The share prices of all of them have reacted negatively in the short term to both decisions, whether they sold or decided not to. In Stockmann’s case, selling at an undervalue would have been a certainty. So, regarding the giving away of owners’ money just for the short-sighted returns sought by some investors—it is good that they are now selling in disappointment and exiting as shareholders, allowing the company to continue its long-term development work.
Stockmann is not in such a weak position that it would be forced to make a bad decision for the owners. Revenue and the online store’s 1.4 million customers provide an opportunity to increase value significantly if the right moves are made. While it has been up for sale, radical changes could not be made because no one buys a loss-making retail chain in the middle of major changes; it is too risky.
The situation is that if the retail chain’s value is very low or negative, even a moderate increase in value brings significant leverage to the value of the investors’ holdings. The separation is likely timed precisely for the moment it turns profitable, as there was a risk that the market would not appreciate it under the current group structure; as a separate entity, its value can be made reliably visible. Could this Christmas’s sales be enough, now that consumers have finally dared to open their wallets—which have been kept tightly shut lately—for the holiday season?
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This comment by Lucas was likely written more with Björn Borg in mind, but it might be of interest in this thread as well. 
Preliminary sales figures for the Swedish clothing market through December 16th fell by 8.4%. Although we believe the figures were quite weak, the period is fairly short, so it could be affected by several factors, such as the timing of Black Week sales.
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Speaking from experience, it’s not worth paying attention to checkout lines this close to Christmas. Most of the cost burden is present for 98% of the rest of the year too, when there aren’t such large crowds.
Lindex Oyj announced its name change at the end of 2023, which is when the stock started breaking away from that roughly €2 valuation. Since then, Lindex’s earnings performance has remained steady and Stockmann’s (Stocka’s) has slightly improved, though the improvement has been a disappointment—at least for me—considering that we’ve moved past the general COVID slump and the energy crisis.
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Lindex’s earnings release is on 6 February 2026, but sometimes in the past, guidance has been issued around mid-January. Last year’s guidance, after all, was based on an insanely strong Q4.
What kind of results are the more informed people here expecting? As for Stockmann’s future, you probably shouldn’t hold your breath.
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Probably a defensive victory. According to Statistics Finland, consumers still consider purchasing durable goods to be unfavorable. Confidence among women, in particular, remained very low.
I don’t have any certain information, but I recall an OP analyst thinking the guidance was at risk. OP has apparently stopped coverage after the Stockmann disappointment, which is why I can’t see the equity research. Comically, the title of the research was “Solution for department stores known in Q4”
. In my opinion, the shift in timing was quite clear, as the poll on the forum also showed.
Hopefully Stockmann has improved its results to get the cash flow turned around. Dividends are also potentially on the way, which provides some comfort.
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A recent post by Arhi on the clothing retail sector.
“Times remain difficult in the clothing retail operating environment. There are still no strong signs of a clear recovery in sales on the horizon. With consumers being cautious with their spending, it is likely that the share of hypermarkets (Prisma, K-Citymarket, and Tokmanni) in clothing retail has grown.”
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DNB Carnegie initiates coverage.
Fair Value: €2.5 - 3.2 per share
We derive our fair value range for Lindex Group by applying peer group P/E and P/sales multiples to our 2027 estimates.
Short term (6-12 months)
The Lindex division expects to enjoy the full benefit of the new distribution centre in 2026, yielding net opex savings of EUR10m annually, equal to 15% of group Q3 2025 LTM EBIT, in our view supporting group EBIT margin gains in 2026.
Further details and the full report here: DNB Carnegie Access:
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The Shareholders’ Nomination Board proposes that the current members of the Board of Directors, Stefan Björkman, Andrea Collesei, Roland Neuwald, Sari Pohjonen, Tracy Stone, and Harriet Williams, be re-elected in accordance with their consent for a term of office continuing until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.
The Shareholders’ Nomination Board proposes that Matti Piri be elected as a new member of the Board of Directors in accordance with his consent for a term of office continuing until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. Matti Piri is independent of the company and its significant shareholders.
…
The persons proposed for the Board of Directors have informed the company that, if elected, they will elect Sari Pohjonen as Chair of the Board and Roland Neuwald as Vice Chair of the Board.
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In my opinion, this is one small but still excellent piece of news for Stockmann. The selection still has the opportunity to stand out from competitors; hopefully, more hot brands will be added exclusively to Stockmann’s range.
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I don’t know if these figures are to be believed, but usually on Stockmann’s online store, there are about 5–20 customers who have “just added a product to their cart.” I’ve never seen numbers in the thousands like this before.
A brilliant pick based on first impressions. Exactly the kind of boldness that has been missing from Stockmann.
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That’s definitely a bug, or then “just” is a long time 
Whether it was a long time or not, if the product went on sale today, that is a shockingly high sales volume for a single day for one product. 
To keep this post from being just idle chatter, this “laggard” is also reporting its results tomorrow, with the webcast at the usual 10:00.
It’s a shame we won’t get Rauli’s interview anymore, but I’ll have to ask Susanne myself again.
Let’s see if we need to dash to the 8th floor for “divi-dend” coffees.
Additional credit limits were just agreed upon, so one could imagine that capital could be released towards the owners as well.
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I think these are likely something other than “real data,” or the timeframe is completely different from what’s being implied. A very common sight in online stores, especially in those cases and situations or with products where it’s practically impossible or you “know” whether it can be true. A similar style of automated manipulation as the “price hiking” on certain sites back in the day (when you visited a site often and searched for the same thing repeatedly, e.g., booking flights). I want to believe. #tinfoil
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Solid figures, slight improvement. Lindex is growing, Stocka is sluggish.
BTW, the Stockmann side’s operating profit is in the black on an annual level.
Granted, this doesn’t include the rents, or whatever they’re called nowadays / IFRS16.
Adjusted operating profit approx. 70 (2025) → 70-95 MEUR (2026)
Lindex Group’s revenue and adjusted operating result improved in the fourth quarter
October–December 2025:
- Lindex Group’s revenue increased by 4.0% to EUR 284.7 (273.7) million. In local currencies, revenue increased by 2.7%.
- The Lindex division’s revenue was EUR 181.9 (169.1) million. Revenue increased by 7.6%, and 5.3% in local currencies.
- The Stockmann division’s revenue was EUR 102.9 (104.6) million. Revenue decreased by 1.6%, but comparable revenue increased.
- The Group’s gross margin was 59.1% (58.1).
- The Group’s adjusted operating result improved to EUR 39.4 (36.1) million.
- The Lindex division’s adjusted operating result improved to EUR 29.4 (26.8) million due to a stronger gross margin. However, increased operating expenses and depreciation affected the result.
- The Stockmann division’s adjusted operating result improved to EUR 10.8 (10.5) million, mainly due to successful cost-efficiency measures.
- The operating result was EUR 33.8 (33.1) million.
- The result for the period improved to EUR 29.6 (19.8) million due to the increased operating result and lower tax expenses.
- Basic and diluted earnings per share were EUR 0.19 (0.12).
January–December 2025:
- Lindex Group’s restructuring program was completed on 15 August 2025.
- Lindex Group’s revenue was EUR 952.3 (940.1) million. In local currencies, revenue was at the previous year’s level.
- The Lindex division’s revenue increased to EUR 645.9 (628.8) million. In local currencies, revenue increased by 1.3%.
- The Stockmann division’s revenue was EUR 306.8 (311.6) million. Comparable revenue was at the previous year’s level.
- The Group’s gross margin was 58.2% (58.3).
- The Group’s adjusted operating result decreased to EUR 69.5 (74.9) million.
- The Lindex division’s adjusted operating result decreased to EUR 72.1 (82.9) million due to increased depreciation and operating expenses.
- The Stockmann division’s adjusted operating result improved to EUR 1.2 (-3.9) million and was positive for the first time in several years.
- The operating result improved to EUR 64.7 (60.9) million.
- The result for the period was EUR 24.4 (13.2) million.
- Basic and diluted earnings per share were EUR 0.16 (0.08).
Guidance for 2026:
Lindex Group expects revenue to increase in 2026 in local currencies compared to 2025. The adjusted operating result is estimated to be EUR 70–95 million. Foreign exchange rate fluctuations may have a significant impact on the adjusted operating result.
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Yes, dividends are mentioned. Financial statements page 10.
Distributable funds were 337.
The terms of the convertible bonds issued in July 2021 do not allow for dividend payments.
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@Rauli_Juva were you aware of this? This was completely new information to me; until now, the lack of dividends has always been attributed to the terms of the restructuring program.
Well, that new credit facility was probably taken out precisely so that the 2021 bond is bought back, and a dividend will likely be proposed later this year.
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