Marimekko - COVID-19 impacting sales and profit

Marimekko withdrew its guidance for 20E as the consumer demand in all the market areas has dropped due to COVID-19. We now expect 20E sales to decline by 10% y/y and adj. EBIT of EUR 11.7 (-32% y/y) but we note that there are significant uncertainties especially with our short-term estimates. We upgrade to “BUY” (“HOLD”) with TP of EUR 28 (44).

Weakened consumer demand outlook due to COVID-19
Marimekko withdrew its 20E guidance as the situation around COVID-19 has clearly weakened the consumer demand outlook in all Marimekko’s market areas (prev. 20E sales are expected to increase from the previous year and adj. EBIT is expected to be at the same level or higher than on the previous year). At the current stage, the company doesn’t give a guidance for 20E. However, if the situation is prolonged, it will have significant impacts on the company’s sales and profitability. As a result of the current situation, Marimekko is planning to adjust its operations and initiates cooperation negotiations. Marimekko has also changed its proposal for the ’19 dividend payment (prev. dividend proposition of EUR 0.90) and proposes that the AGM would authorize the Board of Directors to decide on a dividend payment of a max. of EUR 0.90 per share to be distributed in one or several instalments at a later stage when the company is able to make a more reliable estimate on the impacts of COVID-19 to the company’s business.

Expecting a significant drop especially in retail sales
As most of the market areas have some level lockdowns and thus many stores are being closed, we expect negative impacts especially on Q2’20E sales. We have lowered our Q2’20E sales estimate by ~44% and our EBIT estimate by ~82%. We expect retail sales to face the hardest hit due to the rapid drop in consumer numbers. We don’t expect as dramatical decline in wholesale sales as the buyers (of distribution channels) should have already ordered the spring/summer lines. However, it is difficult to estimate how the situation will impact on H2’20E sales. We also expect negative impacts on production and supply chain in H1’20E.

“BUY” (“HOLD”) with TP of EUR 28 (44)
We’ve lowered our 20E sales expectation by 17% and adj. EBIT estimate by 42%. We expect 20E sales of EUR 113 (-10% y/y) and adj. EBIT of EUR 11.7 (-32% y/y). We note that there are significant uncertainties with our short-term estimates but we see Marimekko’s mid-term investment case unchanged and positive as we see Marimekko is able to achieve higher sales and margins after this shock. In normal circumstances, Marimekko also offers an attractive dividend yield. On our estimates, Marimekko trades at 20E-21E EV/EBIT multiple of 17.6x and 10.2x which translates into 22-40% discount compared to the luxury peers. We upgrade our rating to “BUY” (“HOLD”) with TP of EUR 28 (44).

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