Haha 
Thanks also to the viewers for the good audience questions!
I’ve interviewed Alexander so much that coming up with new interesting questions is constantly becoming more challenging for me.
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Apparently, a factory visit for investors was recently organized at the Lohja factory. Thomas, did you have any information about this? Mainly from the perspective of what kind of investors this event was aimed at? I don’t immediately recall seeing a general invitation anywhere? Or did I just miss it 
Does anyone recognize the people in the picture? They are not familiar to me, at least.
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Companies usually organize these for representatives of institutions and major investors, not general events for ordinary people.
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Open house factory tours are coming again in autumn 2025, so every small investor can go there if they wish to get a closer look at the company’s production. I inquired about this from the company last autumn:
“-- Last year there were relatively few participants, so we decided to switch to holding Open House every other year. So the next time will be in October 2025.”
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Banks organize introductory events for various companies for their institutional clients, and this upper one was by SEB. I didn’t get an invitation for this, but the assets under management of the guys in the picture are probably in a completely different league than mine 
Orthex also organizes open house factory tours itself, as @Otter_Investor mentioned.
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Greetings!
Thank you for your activity and for submitting your initiative to our service. Your initiative gathered 9 endorsements by the deadline, totaling 25,702 shares.
We forwarded information about the initiative to the company’s CEO, who responded to the initiative as follows:
Thank you for your interest in the company and for your valuable feedback regarding the company’s investor communications.
Orthex’s main principles for investor communications are openness, timeliness, reliability, transparency, consistency, comprehensibility, and fairness.
As stated in the initiative, the company publishes earnings reports quarterly, and the company’s management discusses the results with all investors in an open webcast after the release of the quarterly report. Invitations and participation links for these webcasts are delivered as press releases aimed at investors and LinkedIn messages always a week before the broadcast, in addition to which registration for the events can be done via the company’s website. Recordings and presentations from these earnings reports have been available on the company’s website since its listing. Investors can subscribe to the company’s stock exchange and press releases to their email on the company’s website.
In addition to the events mentioned in the initiative, the company’s management has participated several times a year in investor events organized by, for example, Inderes, SEB, and Carnegie. The next confirmed investor event is the Stock Exchange Open House evening on August 27th: Tapahtumat | Nasdaq Helsinki Avoimet Ovet 2025 | Nordnet. We welcome all investors interested in the company to discuss the company’s strategy and business in more detail.
The CEO and CFO are responsible for the company’s investor relations. The company’s marketing and sustainability director is responsible for the company’s investor communications. Considering the company’s size, it has been deemed sufficient that the responsibility for investor relations and communications is shared among these three directors.
Sustainability is at the core of Orthex’s strategy, and progress in sustainability goals and reporting on them simultaneously demonstrates the implementation of the company’s strategy. Reporting on sustainability work is important to the company’s customers and consumers, based on the feedback received by the company. These consumers also include households, which are quantitatively the most numerous of the company’s shareholders.
The company is currently followed by analysts from Nordea, Carnegie, and Inderes. The number of followers is reviewed annually, and this number has so far been deemed sufficient.
The company has not organized a capital markets day since its listing. The company’s board regularly discusses organizing such a day, but generally, a capital markets day is organized when the company has something new to announce, for example, related to strategy or reorganizations.
Kind regards,
Tero Lehtinen
Organization Manager
Finnish Shareholders’ Association (Suomen Osakesäästäjät ry)
Freesenkatu 3 A 2
00100 Helsinki
Addition: No desired change or indication of it in any direction. In my opinion, the company does not recognize private investors as a key stakeholder group, and the CEO sees no need for changes.
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The SmartStore series seems to be expanding in Europe to include SmartStore PRO boxes. It is, in the words of that sales pro, unbreakable, and that’s what it says on the cardboard too 
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I’ll post this here now, even though it doesn’t provide much more information. The point of the image is that it makes visible, in addition to the current distribution network, local sellers and warehouses, also Orthex’s challenge: the low-cost production boxes from the Baltics and Poland, and the lack of presence in Southern Europe.
These problems cannot be solved with the current factories. A production facility should be acquired further south and further east to enter these markets.
I assume that there would also be a need for high-quality storage boxes in the direction of the ‘boot country’. However, acquisitions have been discussed for many years now. There’s little to show for it.
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More and more products from the Swiss company Rotho have started appearing in Finland. Very similar products to Orthex, but at a lower price point. A somewhat worrying sign and it will start to put pressure on Orthex’s margins in the domestic market (?)
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References apparently to Game Of Thrones or similar. Be that as it may, at least that European sales powerhouse has been posting on LinkedIn at a commendable pace again. Hopefully, growth will also be visible on the top line on the old continent.
The company is currently in a quiet period, which began on July 22nd and lasts until the interim report on August 21st. Although sometimes it feels like without these sales powerhouses’ posts, the company is in a continuous quiet period… 
Next, the Orthex investor will start to anticipate Thomas’s preliminary comments. How exciting 
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@Thomas_Westerholm anticipates that figures across the board are declining, but could there be light at the end of the tunnel?
Based on retail sales figures, Orthex’s business environment has shown cautious signs of recovery in Sweden, but overall, the demand environment has remained sluggish. We expect Q2 revenue to have decreased by 2% to EUR 20.5 million. We forecast invoiced sales in the Nordics to have grown by 1%, but weakened revenue from export markets to have pushed group-level revenue down.
We predict the company’s revenue to contract by 1% to EUR 88.7 million this year due to weakened invoiced sales in export markets. Our comparable operating profit forecast, in turn, stands at 9.8%. This year, both remain quite clearly below the company’s target of 5% revenue growth and an 18% EBITA margin. We consider the company’s growth target achievable over the cycle, but achieving the EBITA margin seems distant based on the company’s historical profitability.
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There are likely signs of improvement in the market, but unfortunately, the weaknesses of major export customers have hardly eased yet. It’s a shame that, regarding growth, the investment story seems to be moving sideways because of this. We’ll go through the report in the usual style on Thursday morning in the form of an earnings live stream 
Questions for Alexander can also be submitted below for the interview 
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Let’s try to get something out of that growth.
I recall that in previous interviews, it was mentioned in a side clause (and it seems to be already visible in the product catalog) about durable boxes for professional use (boxes that wear out). It’s a small nuance, but among bricklayers, painters, and those needing durable buckets, you most often see Orthex buckets because it’s the main product where functionality matters. Does Orthex plan, in addition to “more attractive product placement,” refining aesthetics and trendiness, to invest in this with its own sub-brand someday? In Smartstore Pro, for example, in addition to the structure, the coloring with warning colors already somewhat reaches in that direction. Or why not for hobby use, such as lure boxes or toolboxes, etc., where design ultimately matters at least as much as in everyday storage. Like, any junk sells with a Caterpillar logo, so why not make quality to challenge sales with logos.
Of course, this would be somewhat contradictory to the earlier streamlining of the product portfolio, but the world is also contradictory to what it was 4 years ago. 
Then another thing that has probably been discussed and would be discussed anyway, but what does the M&A front look like, are there opportunities to move production closer to areas where there are desires to expand?
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What does the market competition look like in the Nordics? Have there been any changes?
How have raw material prices developed? Is the reduced oil price starting to show when acquiring plastic raw materials, and could the company get help from this to maintain margins in a subdued market situation?
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Solteq’s live earnings webcast was an hour ago, but today there’s another live earnings webcast, as brother Westerholm hosts Orthex’s live earnings webcast starting at 8:55 AM 
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Among Finnish discount store chains, for example, Tokmanni has started selling very cheap storage boxes manufactured in Eastern Europe? Is this possibly one reason why trade is not booming in the Nordic countries, as consumers save and buyers purchase significantly cheaper products from Poland? Is the same phenomenon observable in Swedish discount store chains?
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At least based on this study, especially those under 35 value the domestic origin of products even more than before:
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After a long break, I jumped back in today. My own picks and justifications;
- “Compared to the second quarter of the previous year, invoiced sales in Other Europe grew a strong 22.1% to EUR 5.1 million (4.2).”
In my opinion, it is a very essential part of the investment profile and story that growth outside the Nordics is positive and as rapid as possible. An excellent growth figure, also considering that it was Orthex’s quietest and so-called weakest quarter.
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“The timing of campaigns by a few customers and slower sell-out affected the decline in sales in the Nordics.”
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“Due to the challenging market situation, some of our Nordic customers have been cautious in their purchasing behavior.”
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“For some of our customers, the risk of credit losses continued during the period, and as a precautionary measure, we restricted deliveries, especially during the first quarter. This negatively affected sales outside the Nordics.”
Considering the dismal market situation in the Nordics, these are quite credible explanations. Many companies have anticipated an improving year-end in the Nordics in the consumer sector, so Inderes’ zero-growth forecast before the report was quite appropriately anticipated, perhaps even a bit conservatively estimated after the report.
I believe there is a possibility for a slightly better year-end, and the forecasts for next year were already anticipating better development.
The strategic direction seems clear and good, but as @Thomas_Westerholm said in the live session, the company could push a little harder. Thanks, Thomas, for the good comments and the live session in general!
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If not others, at least I’d be interested to hear what was discussed during the visit (officially and unofficially).
Was any active member from here present?
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I like to check from time to time how storage box sales are doing in discount stores. I’m not claiming that any far-reaching conclusions should be drawn from this, but I think some noteworthy things can be observed there. Here are a couple of things from this trip
- SmartStore brand vs. private label products
As everyone here probably knows, Orthex also makes storage boxes for those discount store chains under their own private labels.
Under-bed storage box Orthex:
Under-bed storage box Iisi:
You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to notice that it’s the same box (in a different color and with a different brand). What’s interesting, however, is the price, which is a good couple of euros higher for Orthex’s own brand.
I asked Grok how much better the margin of private label products is compared to branded products: The margin for private label products is on average about 9–10 percentage points better than for branded products, but the exact difference depends on the product category and market area. In consumer goods, retailers particularly benefit from the fact that private label products can be priced attractively while generating a higher margin.
In my opinion, that exact percentage doesn’t really matter because the price points of the products already differ (the branded product is about 10% more expensive). Furthermore, since the private label product has a better margin, the store has no interest in selling the corresponding branded product or increasing its sales.
- Campaign Sales
Let’s continue the above discussion on product pricing and examine campaign sales. The CEO occasionally mentions in interim reports that campaigns have been sold. This presumably refers to larger quantities, volume discounts, and lower prices. This often nicely boosts sales and revenue.
My observation is that discount store chains have managed to wedge into Orthex’s campaign sales by primarily using their own private labels in campaigns.
Campaign Sales Iisi:
Any normally sighted and sane consumer would, in this case, opt for the discount store chain’s own offer instead of going to the other side of the pallets to buy a full-priced branded product.
SmartStore boxes:
Furthermore, visually inspecting, pallet sales seem to favor the private label, as it’s easy for the consumer to compare products and prices. I don’t know if this is intentional in the said retail chain, but I’ve encountered it before. So, it’s different to sell boxes from one’s own truck than from pallets that include the chain’s own private labels as well as cheap Polish boxes.
- Conclusions
Based on the company’s interim report, there were hardly any glimmers of light in the Nordics. No very far-reaching conclusions can be drawn from these observations about how things are going elsewhere in the Nordics, but based on these observations, it doesn’t look good in my opinion. Furthermore, when we add to the equation that consumer purchasing behavior is cautious, I don’t expect sales in the Nordics to recover anytime soon.
My interpretation is also that the company is more of a price-taker than a price-maker. Private label products are an excellent example of this. Revenue and profitability face headwinds not only from the market but also from the company’s inability to sell its own higher-margin product to stores. And I don’t believe the situation will change from this, even if the market situation improves. So, what’s the solution?
I see one positive aspect: the company continuously launches new products. Through these new products, sales and differentiation can be achieved. The problem, however, is that these new products haven’t been very popular in the sense that sales of one or some products would see strong growth widely in the Nordics and Europe. So, there should be strong differentiation, and the production of those ordinary boxes for discount store chains should be stopped.
The company should next rethink its strategy and focus, as the current strategy is not working. Although Orthex is undoubtedly among the best and most profitable companies in this sector, its current product portfolio does not enable reaching the set targets. The company will not succeed in bulk sales. This, in my opinion, has already been seen.
I own the stock today and perhaps tomorrow too. However, many investors have already run out of patience, and there is no confidence in the company’s better performance. This is partly reflected in the stock price.
Now, time for a walk with the dog 
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