NWG // FINANCIAL INFORMATION
F i n a n c i a l i n f o r m a t i o n
Board of Directors ' report
The Board of Directors and CEO of New Wave Group AB ( publ ), 556350-0916 , based in Gothenburg , hereby submit the financial statements and consolidated financial statements for the financial year 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2020 .
New Wave Group is a growth company that creates , acquires and develops brands .
Our brands are categorized into three operating segments : Corporate , Sports & Leisure and Gifts & Home Furnishings .
The Group will achieve synergies by coordinating the design , purchasing , marketing , warehousing , and distribution of the product range .
To ensure good allocation of risks , the Group will offer its products in the promo market and the retail market .
New Wave Group ’ s competitiveness lies primarily in its strong brands , considerable expertise , high level of service , and a well-developed overall concept . Products are primarily manufactured in Asia , and to a lesser extent in Europe . Thanks to its relative size , New Wave Group has good purchasing prices and efficient logistics . The Group ’ s most well-known wholly-owned brands include AHEAD , Auclair , Clique , Cottover , Craft , Cutter & Buck , Grizzly , J . Harvest & Frost , James Harvest Sportswear , Jobman , Kosta Boda , Orrefors , PAX , Projob , Sagaform , Seger and Toppoint .
Summary of 2020
The year started well with net sales growth in January and February . The joy of it was short-lived when the COVID-19 crisis hit with full force in March , and several of our companies were hit very hard . It was not only through reduced demand due to cancelled events , sport competitions , conferences and other corporate activities as well as problems in the business world generally , but also the fact that we were forced to close down some of our warehouses . The worst hit was initially in Italy , where our company is located in Codogno and also where the COVID-19 outbreak started in the country . Their warehouse was largely closed throughout the month of March . The second quarter recovered faster than expected and at the same time our trading business reported a very good result and showed good growth . However , the outcome was very different for different countries and companies . Worst affected were our US companies with a decrease of 62 % and several of these companies were shut down for about a month and a half . Net sales for New Wave Group were negatively affected by COVID-19 during the third quarter as well . Demand for the Group ’ s products and services was still lower than the previous year . A slight recovery occurred in this quarter and Sweden and Other countries experienced growth in net sales . The US , where the Group has large operations , was still the region most affected by the pandemic , but also Europe and the Nordic countries excluding Sweden were areas affected negatively . During the fourth quarter the situation in our regions was further improved and Sweden and the Nordic countries excluding Sweden experienced growth . The US was still the region with the largest drop in net sales compared to the previous year , but sales decreased in Europe as well . Net sales amounted to SEK 6,098.8 million , which was a decrease of 12 % ( 10 % in local currencies ) compared to the previous year . Both sales channels decreased compared to last year .
Corporate decreased net sales by 4 %. In the Corporate segment , sales have been primarily affected by cancelled events , conferences and other corporate activities , reducing the demand for promo products . However , the Group has increased the share of trading orders , which has increased both net sales and operating result during the year . Major cost-cutting measures have been implemented at the same time as capital tied up in stock has been adjusted to the lower sales volume .
Sports & Leisure has been negatively affected by COVID-19 due to cancelled sport events with reduced sales as a result and the sport retailers ’ high inventory
ANNUAL REPORT // 057