Sweden : Lingerie specialist Lindex strongest quarter so far

Our passion is to inspire women to look and feel great.
• The Lindex Group's sales, excluding the closed German operation, increased by 9.9 per cent in total to SEK 1,369M (1,247). Excluding the German operation, same store sales increased by 6.8 per cent. Excluding the currency effect, the increase was 8.4 per cent. Including the German operation, total sales increased by 6.4 per cent to SEK 1,393M (1,309).
• The EBITA result, excluding the German operation, amounted to SEK 204M, equivalent to an EBITA margin of 14.9 per cent. Including Germany, the EBITA result increased to SEK 183M (144), equivalent to an EBITA margin of 13.1 (11.0) per cent.
• Profit after financial items, including the German operation, increased by 25 per cent during the quarter and amounted to SEK 180M (144).
• Profit after tax increased to SEK 123M (104), equivalent to SEK 1.80 (1.50) per share.
• The German operation was closed during the quarter. The total cost for the closure amounted to SEK 91M, of which SEK 1M is charged to the quarter. A provision of SEK 90M was made in the second quarter.
• The operating loss in the German operation amounted to SEK -20M. 1 September 2006-31 August 2007
• The Lindex Group's sales, excluding the closed German operation, increased by 3.1 per cent to SEK 5,084M (4,932). Excluding the German operation, same store sales, excluding the currency effect, increased by 1.8 per cent. Including the German operation, total sales increased by 1.2 per cent to SEK 5,275M (5,212).

• The operating margin amounted to 9.0 (11.5) per cent and the gross margin to 59.2 (59.0) per cent.
• The EBITA result, excluding the closed German operation, amounted to SEK 608M, equivalent to an EBITA margin of 12.0 per cent.
• Profit after tax, including the German operation, amounted to SEK 303M (504), equivalent to SEK 4.40 (7.30) per share.
The CEO comments:
"In Lindex, we are obviously proud that our extensive work throughout the organisation has resulted in Lindex's strongest quarter ever, with a profit in operations amounting to SEK 204 M."
"Our product range, especially in ladies' wear but also in children's clothing, has had the biggest single impact on the results. We have also implemented a culture change in Lindex relating to seasonal change-overs and have succeeded in achieving an excellent fashion range early in the season. This has had a very positive effect on the results and will continue to do so in the future."
"We note with satisfaction that we already report results on a par with our financial target for the 2008/2009 financial year. The gross margin for the full year increased to 59.2 per cent and the EBITA margin for the fourth quarter, excluding Germany, rose to 14.9 per cent."