Björn Borg Q2’25 preview: Stable quarter despite tough comparable figures

Björn Borg will report its Q2’25 results on Friday, August 15. We expect some revenue growth despite tough comparable figures and FX headwinds, and profitability to remain at good levels. Our focus in the upcoming report is on the company’s main growth categories, sports apparel and footwear, as well as demand-related information.

Source: Inderes & Pinpoint (retail consensus 06.08.25, 57 estimates)

Facing challenging comparison figures

We forecast Björn Borg’s Q2 revenue growth to be 5.5% in local currencies. However, we expect a negative FX impact due to the strengthening SEK, leading to 3.0% reported revenue growth, below Retail Consensus (Pinpoint Estimates). By segment, we anticipate Own e-commerce to show the strongest growth (20% y/y), driven by increased sales in sports apparel. We estimate that revenue in the largest segment, Wholesale, will decrease by 4% y/y, mainly due to tough comparison figures, which were boosted by the takeover of footwear distribution. We also expect a decline in revenue in Own stores (-2% y/y), mainly related to the late arrival of Covid contributions from the Dutch state in Q2 last year. Among the smaller segments, we expect the Distributor segment to grow 13% (y/y) due to more normalized inventory levels and easier comparison figures, while the Licensing segment is expected to continue showing modest revenues following the integration of the footwear category, which previously constituted a significant part of this segment.

By product category, we expect continued strong growth in sports apparel, as well as in the underwear category due to the timing of distribution, where this year’s summer season was delayed to Q2. However, we expect a setback in the footwear category due to challenging comparison figures where Q2 last year saw a positive timing effect due to delay in distribution.

Margins on good levels

We forecast Björn Borg’s gross margin to increase to 54.0% from last year's level of 51.8%, partly due to a shift in the sales mix, with a higher proportion of revenue from the higher-margin underwear category. In addition, we expect some FX tailwind to gross margins due to a weaker USD against SEK. In terms of operating expenses, we estimate an increase due to heightened marketing activities. However, we believe that the sales growth, together with the gross margin expansion, will result in an increase in absolute EBIT to 13.4 MSEK (Q2’24:9.5), above Retail Consensus. In the bottom lines of the income statement, we anticipate an increase in EPS to SEK 0.35 (Q2’24: 0.26). It is worth noting, however, that Q2 is seasonally the smallest quarter, accounting for only around 5% of full-year EPS on average over the past three years.

No guidance from Björn Borg, outlook likely to remain slightly positive

Björn Borg does not provide financial guidance and does not make concrete comments on the future but only refers to its financial targets, which are at least 10% revenue growth and an EBIT margin of at least 10%. While we expect Björn Borg’s growth outlook to remain good this year as well, driven by the expansion of the sports apparel and footwear categories as well as a gradual recovery in consumer demand, we believe achieving its target of 10% annual sales growth will be challenging. However, we believe that the company’s margin will remain strong, on the right side of its target, driven by good sales growth, especially in the profitable Own e-commerce segment, as well as FX tailwind due to a weaker USD.