Translation: Original comment published in Finnish on 3/25/2024 at 6:50 am EET

Stockmann’s Annual General Meeting approved the change of the company’s name to Lindex Group last Thursday, and the change came into effect on Friday. In the same context, the company’s trading code on the exchange changes and is LINDEX starting today. The name change has no impact on department store operations nor the Stockmann brand. No news was given on the strategic assessment of department stores in this context.

Strategic assessment of department stores continues

Stockmann announced last September that it is planning to change its name to Lindex and that it is exploring strategic alternatives for department store operations. The name has now been changed and the strategic assessment is expected to be completed this year. According to the company, the options include increasing the independence of the Department Stores business within the group, considering possible ownership changes or strategic partnerships, or continuing under the current structure. We believe that one strong option is some sort of arrangement with the company’s main owner, Nordic Retail Holding, based on Konstsamfundet and the Swiss JC Switzerland Holding that became a a big owner at the end of 2022 and who owns, e.g., the Magasin du Nord department store in Copenhagen. We note that the clearest value creation would take place by removing the Department Stores business completely from the group, while other options would not, in our opinion, create value in the same way. In December, we published an extensive report on Stockmann that is still very relevant.