Swedish-owned furniture group Nobia confirmed it finished 2020 “on a strong note with a solid result” in the fourth quarter.

President and CEO Jon Sintorn

The net sales amounted to SEK 3,450million up from 3,455million and organic growth was up 5% compared to -2% last year.

Sales were driven by the Nordic and Central European market, while the UK declined.

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Project sales continued to be strong in all markets, except the UK where social housing and London property markets remained soft.

Nobia reports operating profit, excluding items comparability, increased to SEK 295million, up from 214million and corresponding to an operating margin of 8.6% up on 6.2% of 2019.

Items affecting comparability amounted to SEK -144million, primarily related to the write down of assets following the decision to invest in a new factory in Sweden.

It negatively impacted operating profit by SEK -15million.

Profit after tax, excluding items affecting comparability, amounted to SEK 218million up from 150million and operating cash flow amounted to SEK 396million from 348million.

Speaking about the results, president and CEO of the Nobia Group Jon Sintorn said: “A very unusual year has come to an end, in which we managed to finish on a strong note with a solid result in the last quarter.

“Despite a partially closed store network, during the fourth quarter we were able to continue to service customers, improve operating profit and generate a solid cash flow.

“On the one hand we have had positive momentum and underlying demand on the back of home improvement trends and, on the other hand, the lockdowns have caused difficulties for our store network and in keeping operations steady.

“For most of the time we have been able to keep our business and operations going, but not without some pain.”

Jon Sintorn continued: “Despite lockdowns, the positive momentum of consumer sales continued in all markets.

“The underlying market is deemed to remain good, although the conversion is impacted by customers’ limited access to our store network in several markets.”

He pointed out: “Cash generation was strong throughout the year on the back of solid earning in the Nordics, lower working campital and efficient cash management.

“By the end of the year, we were debt-free, excluding pension and lease liabilities.”

During this time, Nobia has concluded the preparatory phase for its new Nordic factory, which will be operational in 2024.

According to the company, it is also the first kitchen specialist to have science-based climate targets approved by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTI) to drive its sustainability agenda.

Sintorn concluded: “We enter this year at a stronger position that I would have anticipated back in April.

“We have a robust financial position; however the more uncertain times will continue this year and it will be a balancing act investing for the future at the same time as maintaining our more short-term financial performance.

“We have a solid plan, indicators suggest continued underlying demand of our products, and we have a new organisation in place to execute our strategy.

“Finally, I would again like to sincerely thank all our employees for their strong commitment and tremendous hard work in the challenging conditions during the last year.”