Quarter 4 2024 in summary

• Doro‘s net sales amounted to SEK 263.3 million (289.6), a decrease of 9.1 percent.
• Gross margin was 46.3 percent (39.8).
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 49.0 (44.0), an increase of 11.4 percent.
• Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 40.6 million (25.6), corresponding to an operating margin of 15.4 percent (8.8).
• Profit after tax for the period was SEK 41.6 million (5.7) and earnings per share was SEK 1.71 (0.23).
• Free cashflow was SEK 43.3 million (57.6).

January-December 2024 in summary

• Doro‘s net sales amounted to SEK 882.3 million (973.6), a decrease of 9.4 percent.
• Gross margin was 45.9 percent (40.1).
• EBITDA amounted to SEK 121.8 (120.4), an increase of 1.2 percent.
• Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to SEK 86.6 million (68.7), corresponding to an operating margin of 9.8 percent (7.1).
• Profit after tax for the period was SEK 86.1 million (32.4) and earnings per share was SEK 3.53 (1.33).
• Free cashflow was SEK 112.3 million (121.6).

The Board’s proposal to the 2025 Annual General Meeting is that no dividend be paid for the 2024 financial year.

Message from the CEO
Momentum and profitability
Whilst net sales for the quarter were down 9,1% vs the same period last year, this was largely the result of major customers taking longer than anticipated to approve Leva, our new eco-directive compliant range of feature phones, resulting in the later than planned dispatch of launch stocks. Sell-out of Doro feature phones remained strong across our four main markets during the quarter*. The new top of the range Leva L30 feature phone became the top selling feature phone in France in December, representing one in five of all feature phones sold**. So whilst the feature phone market continues its slow decline, our strategy to focus upon offering a high quality 4G product within the feature phone category is paying off.

The value of 4G segment grew by 15,8% vs Q4 last year across Doro’s four main markets and was almost two and a half times greater than the value of the 2G segment*. Doro has been key in driving the transition from 2G to 4G and remains market leader by value in Great Britian, Sweden and France in this segment*.

Beyond net sales, our 4G feature phone strategy enabled us to continue to deliver solid margins (46.3% +6,5pts) and to optimise operational performance. Together this enabled the delivery of an EBIT-margin of 15.4% +6,6pts - the highest percentage of EBIT margin since our split from Careium.

With the success of our 4G feature phone strategy in all regions, we are gradually reshaping the feature phone market towards more premium products for the benefit of our customers and of our consumers. We will continue to invest in driving value performance of the feature phone category throughout the coming year. This will generate the profits that will enable our planned investments behind brand building and a pivot towards simple, meaningful help-tech designed for peace of mind and ease of use.

During the spring we will launch our new range of smart phones that deliver on this ambition. Hardware will soon be ready for shipment from the factories, software is being tested and optimised whilst the final touches are being made to our commercial strategy. With positive feedback from consumer research groups and from our first discussions with customers, I believe that this new platform provides the opportunity for Doro to begin to carve out a meaningful position in the smartphone category.

Outside the phones, we continued with our test launch of our video doorbell launch in the UK. The product was awarded the title of “best video doorbell of the year” by TechRadar*** in the UK and a just confirmation of the quality of our innovations.

We ended 2024 with strong momentum in all our major markets, and with several customers still to receive their first orders of our Leva range of feature phones. The brand re-stage continues to develop at pace, and we anticipate this going live at the launch of our new range of smart phones in the spring. These are exciting times for Doro. We are well equipped to face future challenges and to return to sales growth during the year.

Julian Read, President and CEO
 
* Gfk data for the period Q4, 2024 across Sweden, France, Great Britian and Germany
** Gfk data for the period Q4, 2024 for France
*** https://www.techradar.com/tech/techradar-choice-awards-2024-winners