Musti continues to invest in expansion and market share

“Q5 of 2024 saw Musti further consolidate its Nordic market leadership position and complete its move into the Baltics, strengthening Musti’s growth runway“, said David Rönnberg, CEO of Musti Group, at today's publication of the financial statements. The financial years are not fully comparable as FY24 was extended to 15 months. “I am pleased we were able to profitably grow customer numbers and market share in what remained a tough consumer environment.“

Financial performance was in line with the expectations, with group adjusted EBITDA down 16.0 per cent to 17.2 mio euros. The decrease was mainly due to the pressure on the gross margin from the weak consumer climate and inflation. The gross margin decreased to 44.0 from 45.9 per cent (October to December 2023) due to targeted investments in price and promotion activities and a slight decrease in the share of own and exclusive brand sales to 52 per cent. The adjusted EBITDA margin was 14.1 per cent (17.7 per cent).

The financial year ended with a satisfactory quarter in what remained a somber consumer environment, explained Rönnberg. Net sales increased by 5.6 per cent to 122.2 mio euros, again led by the company's online offering. There was a small benefit from the inclusion of the sales of the Pet City stores post completion in November. If Pet City had been consolidated for the full quarter then the net sales growth would have been 10.7 per cent.

Online sales grew by 8,3 per cent to 29.2 mio euros, with like-for-like online sales growth of 8.8 per cent. Online sales accounted for 23.9 per cent of total net sales. 

“Store sales increased by 4.5 per cent to 90.4 mio euros as we added 65 directly operated stores during the quarter to our network, of which 62 as part of the acquisition of Pet City,“ said the CEO. Sweden and Norway continued to perform well during the quarter, with positive sales growth, while Finland was impacted by lower consumer confidence resulting in a flat year-on-year performance. All markets grew customer numbers and market share in the pet specialty retail.

The economic outlook and the consumer confidence in the Nordics are expected to improve. Lower interest rates and the improving purchasing power of the consumer will impact Musti positively, Rönnberg explained.