Marimekko - Earnings growth smoothens

Solid quarter
Marimekko came in strong with Q4 net sales of EUR 48.1m (+29% y/y). The growth was driven by wholesale and retail sales in Finland as well as wholesale sales in the APAC region and Scandinavia, while the EMEA region declined due to the actions to control grey exports. Retail sales in North America developed very strongly. Higher logistical costs reduced the gross margin to 57.9% (prev. 58.9%). Driven by increased net sales, the adj. EBIT improved by 17% y/y to EUR 7.6m (15.9% margin). Increased personnel (one-time bonus) and other costs weakened the adj. EBIT margin from 17.4% to 15.9%. EPS amounted to EUR 0.72 and the BoD proposed a dividend of EUR 3.60 (including an additional EUR 2 dividend).

Confirmation for international growth
International sales got back on a growth path in Q4’21 and the company guided the segment’s largest market, the APAC region, to grow clearly in FY’22. Segment’s strong development speaks about the increased brand awareness, particularly seen in Asia. In FY’22, we expect int’l net sales to grow by 14% y/y, while expecting domestic growth to slow down to 8% y/y due to the lack of large one-time wholesale deliveries. In our estimates, group revenue amounts to EUR 167.9m, and driven by increased logistical costs the gross margin falls below the comparison period to 60%. Driven by reduced gross margin and increased fixed costs, the adj. EBIT margin of 19.3% (adj. EBIT EUR 32.4m) falls also short of the record high comparison period.

HOLD with a TP of EUR 79 (84)
With our revised estimates, Marimekko trades with a 22-23E EV/EBIT multiple of 19-18x. The company’s valuation has historically varied between EV/EBIT multiple of 17-21x. With the slowdown in the earnings growth within the next few years and the decline in the acceptable valuation level, we downgrade our rating to HOLD (BUY) and adjust TP to EUR 79 (84).