Quarter 2 2023 in summary

  • Doro‘s net sales amounted to SEK 203.0 million (198.4), an increase with 2.3 percent.
  • Gross margin was 40.3 percent (35.6).
  • EBITDA amounted to SEK 12.8 (15.7), a decrease of 18.5 percent.
  • Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 1.0 million (5.3), corresponding to an operating margin of 0.5 percent (2.7).
  • Profit after tax for the period was SEK 1.1 million (4.9) and earnings per share was SEK 0.05 (0.20).
  • Free cashflow was SEK 13.1 million (34.9).

January-June 2023 in summary

  • Doro‘s net sales amounted to SEK 411.3 million (402.9), an increase with 2.1 percent.
  • Gross margin was 38.0 percent (33.8).
  • EBITDA amounted to SEK 28.0 (30.5), a decrease of 8.2 percent.
  • Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 4.2 million (8.3), corresponding to an operating margin of 1.0 percent (2.1).
  • Profit after tax for the period was SEK 4.7 million (8.3) and earnings per share was SEK 0.19 (0.34).
  • Free cashflow was SEK‑1.8 million (20.7).

Message from CEO
Investments in the future continue
The second quarter of 2023 continued in the momentum of the first with general European consumer sentiment remaining weak. The challenging economic conditions resulted in reduced household consumption. By the end of May, the EU4 market for elderly phones (France, Germany, Great Britain, and Sweden) had experienced a -12.5% year-on-year value decline.
 The technology shift with phasing out of older telecom networks (2G and 3G) and moving to 4G further accelerated in the quarter. All French operators communicated their end-of-life schedule for their 2G and 3G networks and the main operator in France is now also planning to incentivize the shift to 4G products, which Doro is capitalizing on due to our strong positioning in the 4G category. However, in certain markets, especially in the DACH region, 2G products are still in demand. As result hereof, Doro managed to retain good sales of 2G products in these markets during the quarter. 
Despite a declining senior phone market, both Doro feature and smart phones sales increased compared to same quarter last year. Overall sales ended up at SEK 203 million, a slight increase of 2% compared to the previous year as fixed line and non-Doro products declined. Our gross margin however improved significantly, reaching 40% due to a favourable product mix, stable USD, and positive freight cost development.
Inventory management remained a priority also this quarter and ended up 35M lower than same quarter last year. This is especially important considering the technology shift, as we need to closely manage the 2G and 3G transition to 4G in the best way while continuing the portfolio optimisation.
In line with our strategy to broaden our offering while maintaining the leadership in senior phones, we continued our investments in developing for the future by further staff hirings within the product management and product development teams. At the same time, we continued working on finding the right channels and marketing for our new innovation products. In terms of marketing we also attended a number of major customer events and fairs across our regions, and we were very pleased to receive an award in France for our Doro Smart watch, from the major senior magazine of the country. 
During the quarter we continued the implementation of our new sales activities, for example the rolling out of our end-cap solutions which continued in the Nordics and UK & Ireland, with Germany being next in line. In addition we invested in training sessions and workshop with external sales force and merchandising teams, which are now to visit our key customers’ stores during the second half of the year, as seniors still are highly committed to physical store shopping. 
Direct-to-consumer business remained a top strategic priority, and with our strengthened e-commerce team we are rapidly increasing our use of digital marketing and sales, as this provides a quicker and more direct way of communicating with consumers. On the digital side we have also during the quarter further invested in a deep dive external analysis of our present capabilities, tools, and platforms, bringing more clarity on how we can grow faster in the online channels going forward. 
Our focus on our end-users, the seniors, also continued in the quarter with consumer research and prototyping, as well as improving processes and feedback to ensure that we fully understand the needs and challenges of the seniors. 
All these investments in the future are reflected in increased operational costs, which results in a modest EBIT of SEK 1.0 million for the quarter. 
Finally, we have increased our focus on our core values, Trust, Ease and Care, and started working across the entire organisation to ensure that these values are behind everything we do, internally as well as externally towards our customers, users, partners etc. We believe that these values are the fundament to developing the right products for our seniors.
Jörgen Nilsson, President & CEO

© Modular Finance, source Nordic Press Releases