Food and consumables remain strong sales pillars for Musti
The Finnish pet retailer admits the continued volatile trend of discretionary items but is optimistic for the rest of the year.
Musti Group posted €425.7 million ($454.8M) in revenue from October to September 2023. This is 8.9% more than the previous year when it reached €391.1 million ($426.5M).
During the 9 months of the year, like-for-like sales grew by 9.5%, and operating profit also witnessed a climb of 22.4% to €37.8 million ($40.3M).
The Helsinki-based pet retailer admitted higher growth in food and consumables—making up over 70% of sales than in discretionary categories. According to CEO David Rönnberg, food and consumables remained “strong sales pillars” throughout the period. Store sales comprised 75.7% of the business’s revenue, while online sales represented 23%. Finland represents most of the total sales (44.6%), followed by Sweden (40.1%) and Norway (15.3%).
Rönnberg stressed the Musti Group’s “stable growth in such a volatile operating environment.” “It is a great achievement and pinpoints the resilience of the pet care sector and the strength of our ecosystem,” he concludes.
Last quarter
In the quarter from July to September 2023, Musti also recorded positive figures, with net sales accounting for €110.4 million ($117.9M). This is 8.4% more than during the same quarter in 2022.
The company told investors that the positive trend was primarily due to the increasing number of customers and price increases.
Food comprised 55% of revenue during the period, followed by discretionary accessories (24%) and consumables (21%). The Finnish retailer admitted that discretionary items follow a “more volatile” trend.
Reaping the rewards
Rönnberg stated that their operating model “is bearing fruit” and highlighted the investment in the Premium Pet Food factory Suomi in Lieto (Finland) earlier in the year.
“The investment in the factory has strengthened our commitment to sustainably produced products and will be a key success driver going forward,” says CEO David Rönnberg.
According to the financial results, the takeover contributed to net sales of €2 million ($2.1M) from July to September 2023.
“The investment in the factory has strengthened our commitment to sustainably produced products and will be a key success driver going forward,” adds Rönnberg.
According to the company, the Eskilstuna central warehouse in Sweden, which opened in 2016, is also achieving “significant improvements” for Musti’s end-to-end supply chain efficiency.
The retailer forecasts net sales of €500 million ($534.4M) by the end of the financial year, boosted by customer acquisition momentum and an increase in the share of wallet from its customers.