Lindex did not find a solution to Stockmann’s fate

of the Lindex Group had to find a solution to the fate of Stockmann, i.e. the company’s department store business, by the end of the year.

However, this is not happening. The company said on Friday that, in the government’s opinion, the separation of the department store business would still be the best strategic way forward.

Diversification could mean, for example, listing Stockmann separately on the stock exchange or selling it to new owners. In practice, differentiation is difficult because the department store business is doing so poorly.

Neither has a buyer been found despite a two-year search.

Even the cash flow of the department store business is still negative, i.e. less money comes into the company than goes out. Profitability has improved this year, but not enough.

Department stores are burdened by long leases, which are counted as the company’s debt and eat into the company’s profit.

“This affects the feasibility of all options under consideration and their possible outcome,” Lindex writes in its announcement.

The listed company Stockmann changed its name to Lindex in 2024. The clothing chain Lindex has been the most profitable part of the group for years. It has poorly supported the smooth department store business.

A solution The fate of the Stockmanns has already been postponed twice. Originally, the report had to be completed by the end of last year, then last June, and the latest deadline was the end of this year.

Swedish department store chain Åhlens bought three years ago and turned it into a profit View Al-Saffar was interested in Stockmann.

However, he withdrew from the negotiations in the fall. HS said in October that the problem was probably the long lease of the department store in the center of Helsinki.

Stockmann sold the central Helsinki department store property in 2022 to the pension insurance company Keva for 400 million euros. The contract included a long-term lease.

“There will be no Stockmann. I would have liked it, but it didn’t work out,” Al-Saffar said in Sweden Market magazine by.

Lindex’s board says it will continue to evaluate Stockmann’s “strategic alternatives”. It no longer defines a new back limit for surveys.