Hello everyone and welcome to Inderes TV. Today we are going to talk about Björn Borg, which earlier this morning released its earnings report for the third quarter of 2026. And as usual, I am joined by CEO Henrik Bunge. Welcome! Henrik.

Thank you, thank you.

Yes, it was a strong quarter. Revenue was slightly higher than our expectations, but in terms of profitability, it was a strong quarter. What drove growth during the quarter?

The highlight is of course our own e-commerce, up 16 % vs. the previous year, and now it also has good momentum so it continues to develop. Super nice, but also lower discounts, better profitability. So there we see that we are getting an even stronger hold on the brand in our department stores. That is definitely the highlight of the quarter.

Then of course we have growth in wholesale. 3 % growth is way too low. We need to be much, much more than that. But a small rebound after a slightly weaker Q2. Overall okay sales growth, but above all e-commerce which is strong.

If we start with the previous quarter, we saw a decline driven by timing effects. But even during H1, growth was quite weak in wholesale. What has happened now in Q3, are you catching up or what does the order book look like going forward?

Not so much going forward, but if we look back we can. We already saw that in the spring, that Zalando had much, much better sell-through in relation to what they bought from us, and sold a lot more. So we understood that it would take off sooner or later. And it has. We have incredibly nice momentum in Germany. Zalando is growing. We are talking about 25–30 % here. That is a big explanation. It is a big customer. There are larger fluctuations when they choose to step on the gas and restock.

That is the thing, that we see that there is nice sales in most markets. Then it is probably still the case that we can confirm the feeling we had in Q2, that it is a little more optimistic out there. There is something perhaps above all in the Nordic countries. We still see that Germany is a bit challenging, with Zalando as an exception, but overall a slightly easier market even if it is marginal. But above all it is Germany that has had an incredibly nice development during the quarter.

If we talk product categories, sportswear is delivering again despite tough comparison figures. Footwear on the other hand continues to be tough. Have you seen any effects of the work you are doing with distribution in the Netherlands and Belgium in particular? And you have done a lot of heavy lifting?

Yes, we have redone the whole collection and the assortment is completely new. The team has been in place for a year and a half now. It will take some time. The good news is that we are growing. Footwear on. E-commerce. The consumer chooses directly. There is no buyer in between. We have growth in Sweden. A sign that the assortment works towards the end consumer, but it continues to be challenging in both Holland and Belgium.

And we are losing in the quarter. They are the ones driving this decline. We need to turn that around and it will probably take some time to get those markets in order. But on the other hand we see that e-commerce and our own stores in the Nordic region, there we will be able to see nice growth in footwear in the fairly near future.

Given that e-commerce is doing so strongly and own stores continue to shrink and also make losses. What role will the own stores have going forward?

We are declining 3 % in comparable units. Now we have achieved a fairly tight retail portfolio. Now we will not see any more closures, if anything. We are opening one or two more stores, but we have focused on outlets. They are profitable and we believe there is room for one or two more outlets for us, entering next year with slightly easier comparison figures. Then we have closures behind us. Then we believe we can start seeing growth in the segment.

But as a channel, retail is the one that is absolutely least profitable. If we look without allocating our head office costs, we do make money on retail. But if you compare with our own e-commerce, it is a very big difference. That is definitely true.

Profitability. The gross margin was very strong during the quarter. What was the driver? What components are behind this? Price mix, purchasing costs?

A lot of things play in, of course. Part of it is the channel mix. We have incredibly nice margins. E-commerce is growing strongly in the quarter and taking larger shares. That is one part. We have also seen a really nice development in men's underwear. It is our largest category. It is growing 5 % and that makes a big difference. We have incredibly nice margins there.

Then there is still a currency component, even though it subsided at the end of the quarter it was there when we entered the quarter. If you put all that together, we get a nice gross growth. In addition, we have decreased discounts at our major customers, so that also has an impact. But all of that combined makes the gross margin look very good. That is together with all sales over SEK 300 million in a quarter. Then the profitability becomes very nice. We have a tight cost structure. We do not need to make any extra investments. To get growth going. Then we will be able to increase profitability. Now we are almost up to 17 % in earnings for the quarter. It is. It is truly fantastic.

That is well above your financial target of at least 10 %, while growth is lagging. We have seen that now for many quarters. Delivering profitability that is well above the target while growth is lagging. What can we expect going forward? Or will it become a bit more aggressive on the discount side? To drive growth.

We do not think that discounts are where we should invest to drive more growth. On the other hand, we have been quite cautious. There is a world around us that has been very turbulent. Of course we have faced choices to invest in something that potentially might drive growth, or take it a bit more carefully. We have been a bit more restrained. So that, depending on how things around us change. There are opportunities to grow faster if we were to invest more. But on the other hand, we do not believe the way is to increase discounts, neither in e-commerce nor at our customers.

It will not create long-term value, but it is definitely the case that revenue is... It is too weak. It is too poor. We should be able to do better even in a tough market. But profitability, it is fantastic if anything. Maybe a bit too good, if that can be. But we simply need to find another balance.

Do you notice any cost pressure in the cost base linked to rising fuel prices, freight, and so on? Given what is happening.

Marginally now, we see that something is happening here as a result of everything happening around us, and of course also that shipping times are affected by how one can bring home products from afar. But it is a marginal impact for us, perhaps above all the currency of what we do not control, which affects our margin.

If we. I know you didn't want to give any guidance, but if we try to look forward. The fourth quarter has started. What do you see? Can you share anything about what you are seeing in e-commerce right now?

No, I cannot do that. I try to avoid doing that, simply to avoid getting stuck in some kind of forecast quagmire. We and I remain convinced that we have incredible potential. The journey has only just begun. We are still very small. We have a number of categories that could grow significantly, even though sports is big. Of course that is possible, but there is potential to double revenue in existing markets.

Can we get men's underwear to start growing to 4% and finally get shoes in order, where there is perhaps absolute greatest growth potential? There are good conditions for growth, but nothing is easy and the world is turbulent. We can state that we have found a model that is very profitable. We control our own destiny. But a major challenge has been to get growth going here. That is our primary focus going forward.

But if I turn the question around a bit, how do you feel the consumer is doing? If you look at underlying market data in Sweden, the market grew by an average of 4% during the third quarter. Is that something you notice as well?

We sense a bit, as I mentioned initially this morning, that it feels a little, little, little easier. It is something that. That is bubbling, sort of. I would say cautious optimism regarding the consumer across the Nordic region, Europe, Germany. I suppose I have a slightly different picture. But the Nordic region too. Something is happening here.

In conclusion, I thought we would talk a bit about... We received the sad news yesterday that you have chosen to leave Björn Borg. Can you tell us a bit? What lies behind that decision?

Yes, partly. Today will be my 49th earnings report and now I will manage 50. I am going to close out the year and that is the focus now, but at some point I think it is probably good both for the company and for the owners. And for myself and for Björn Borg to hand over to someone else who can take over with a slightly different perspective. Even though we completely agree that the plan we have developed. It is strong. It is very much about executing it and becoming even better at creating growth.

So for me it is about finally reaching a point where you feel it is probably time to hand over. Simply stepping aside and letting the team behind step forward and take even more space. That is the main reason.

Yes, I have to give you some credit for having made an incredible journey with Björn Borg. Taking the brand from one brand to a sports brand. What would you say yourself? What are you most satisfied with and what do you not have with you?

No, but very much is undone, which is fantastic of course. But if you look from a share perspective. I came in here, had just turned 40 and chose, happily cheered on by some major owners, to invest in Björn Borg. I did that just a week or so into my job. Now I can state that I have had somewhere between 650 percent return on what I put in. Then I think that is a lot of fun. I have, from time to time, received emails from smaller shareholders thanking me for the fine development we have had. But it has not been easy. There has also been a poor development.

Then it has gone up, so if you stretch out the curve, if there is anything I take with me, it is that nothing will go as you planned. It is about believing in the plan and continuing to grind away. Above all when things do not go as you had anticipated. I think we have done an incredible job of not giving up on this idea that was born in the autumn of 2014, that we are going to build a sports company. There were quite a few reasons. On quite a few occasions that indicated that it is going to be very, very difficult. And then we still chose together with the board and major owners to. But come on, this is right. It is just that we haven't gotten it to work so far. So that is probably an important lesson.

Then I think of course that what has developed around Train to Live and building a sports company that does not talk about training to win a race or be in a national team, but to become better at something else. It is very appealing. And that combination of a strong team that believes that everything is possible together with an idea to inspire movement. I think there is incredible potential here simply.

Will the mandatory sports hour remain even when you leave the company?

I will leave that unsaid. Someone else will decide.

It is not ingrained in the culture, then?

I would be equally surprised as sad if it were removed. I think it is an important part of the culture and the culture is much larger than an individual. It is clear that I have had some impact on Björn Borg in recent years when I have been there. But the sum of all these 167, 168 people we are. That is what has created this. And because one person sits on the bench nothing changes. I think this is just the beginning. 49 quarters sounds like a lot, but that is mostly for myself. The company has an infinite number of quarters ahead of it. To break new records and show that there is tons of potential simply.

It will be exciting to follow you going forward, whatever you take on. And we won't say goodbye just yet, but you will run Q4 as well of course.

Now the focus is to close 2026 in a good way of course.

For today at least. Thank you so much for coming here and doing the interview. Awesome! Thanks for tuning in and watching.