The company lost NOK 209 million during the first three months of the year. In comparison, the result was minus 284 during the same period last year. The company announced this in a stock exchange announcement on Wednesday morning.
At the same time, turnover plummets. In Norway alone, sales fall by around 20 per cent or NOK 200 million to NOK 802 million. Total turnover in all markets ended at NOK 1.55 billion after nine quarters of negative growth.
The decline in the first quarter of the year occurs after the company left behind the most difficult year in its history in 2023. In the fourth quarter of last year, they lost NOK 783 million before tax. In total, last year ended almost half a billion kroner down compared to 2022.
At the same time, the company has tried to take action to recover. They brought in fresh capital in March from both Norwegian and international investors.
– Inventory, gross margin and costs are still under more control, and we secured a successful private placement in March. Concrete measures are being taken to get XXL back on track by 2024/2025, says XXL boss Freddy Sobin.
This year, the sports chain has no plans to open any new stores.
– In the longer term, XXL expects the pace of store openings to be 2–3 new stores per year, including store relocations. At the same time, XXL will demolish several existing stores, the company further states.
The annual report also reveals that the sports chain spent NOK 59 million more on marketing in 2023 than in 2022. In total, the chain spent NOK 434 million on marketing expenses.
