The recent time has been characterized by strong fluctuations on the currency market. Suddenly, the Swedish krona, which has been weak for a long time, has been the best in the currency class and strengthened against other currencies, primarily the dollar. In one month, the dollar exchange rate has gone from 10.93 kronor to around 10 kronor, winners of this are companies with large imports of goods from abroad, including, among others, the retail chain Clas Ohlson.
Absolutely, a weaker dollar is positive for Clas Ohlson. Since we have a very large exposure in terms of the relationship between the Swedish and Norwegian krona, as we have four billion kronor in sales in Norway, says CEO Kristofer Tonström to TT.
A challenge
It is also where the challenge comes in the form of the Norwegian krona's development against the krona, where one Norwegian krona now costs around 93 öre compared to one Swedish krona.
What weighs heaviest for Clas Ohlson, the dollar development or the Norwegian krona?
Generally, the Norwegian krona has the greatest impact. The dollar is, of course, very important, but the Norwegian krona is even more significant since we are so large in Norway.
A profit boost
For Clas Ohlson, the third quarter (1 November-31 January) offered a profit boost, with 553 million kronor compared to 422 million kronor the same period the previous year. This simultaneously as the company's net sales increased by 13 percent to approximately 3.8 billion kronor.
No changed customer behavior where people are holding more in their wallets in line with the interest rate cuts now seeming to be over, does not notice the chain, at least not yet, according to Kristofer Tonström:
We have grown for almost two years, and it has been a challenging market during both of these two years. There has been a bit more optimism among customers, but we do not see that the expectations have fundamentally changed, he says.
