Norwegian krone big challenge for Clas Ohlson – Private Businesses

– There are three areas we actively worked on. Without compromising our price position we have, just as the market reflected the strong beat of the dollar in our dollar-related products. We still have a very positive development of the sales mix, not least our own brands in the third quarter was at a rate of up to 30 percent, summarizes CEO Klas Balkow.

In the third quarter there were positive changes the Chinese currency, and falling raw material prices. It has created the scope to lower purchasing prices, he said.

Clas Ohlson is affected both by the stronger dollar, purchase prices, as a weaker Norwegian krone.

How does it on the currency side forward?

– It feels like the dollar stabilized, so far anyway, but if we compare the Norwegian krone against the previous year, so it is now significantly lower. All else equal, right now it is the Norwegian krone is the great challenge for us on the currency side, says Klas Balkow.

As for the respective markets and developments in the third quarter, he believes that Sweden is a stable market right now that Clas Ohlson is taking market share.

Meanwhile, the Norwegian market is still good, but above all, Clas Ohlson is growing by 8 percent, while growth in Swedish kronor is unchanged.

– In Finland, the market is still weak even if it was positive for the first time in a long time in the quarter. For our part, we continue to have a very positive development. In the UK, consumer confidence decently stable but the retail side has been very weak. There has been weak traffic in general on the British market and also we are known of.

Clas Ohlson two smaller stores in England, with an area of ​​about 300 square meters and a limited range, opened its doors in early of October and early December.

– I think we have made a good start, but there is a new format for us. We screws and we learn and it is still a relatively short period, says Klas Balkow.

He repeats the previous message that further modes for smaller stores to be reviewed. In parallel, the review of the existing UK store network which inter alia may be appropriate to adjust certain retail space.

The time when the first German store should open spelled out in the interim report for the month of May. The plan to open two more stores in Germany in the autumn of 2016 is unchanged and as regards the start of the German online trade then it will be, “as it looks now,” in the fall, according to Klas Balkow.