Fifteen years of waiting for a "turnaround" from the Danish sound specialist - fifteen years of dashed hopes, punctuated among other things by an uninterrupted decline in sales and B&O's refusal to be bought out by Chinese billionaire Qi Jianhong.

Is the turnaround finally within reach? Notwithstanding the market's reaction yesterday, it would certainly be too early to think so, so much so that revenues for the past quarter - despite growth of 1.1% year-on-year at the same time - remain in the low range of an already inglorious three-year average.

The only real good news in recent months comes from an operating statement that is back in the black thanks to the normalization of production costs. This, after the uncontrolled inflation in Asian supply chains caused by the pandemic.

But it will take more than this to save B&O, which is down on all segments except EMEA - without further details - and online sales of headphones. Does the Dane still have a role to play in the face of a plethora of well-made competitors?

Its design culture and premium positioning set it apart, but its brand - once synonymous with prestige and precision - has largely lost its cachet with consumers, in price ranges that are hard to justify against alternatives of equivalent quality.

Fortunately, the company's heritage enables it to maintain a number of strategic partnerships, for example with Audi, Bentley and HP. Good for morale, these generate between 10% and 15% of sales.

A special feature is the presence on the Board of Directors - a very Danish one at that - of Frenchman Albert Bensoussan, formerly of Kering and a highly respected figure in the luxury goods industry.