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Roundup: Finnish retail giant Stockmann to close 3 stores in Russia, 1 in Finland

Xinhua, February 14, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Finnish retail group Stockmann announced on Friday that it will close four loss-making department stores, among which three are in Moscow, Russia and one in Oulu, Finland.

Stockmann said in a press release it is set to downsize its operations to achieve an annual cost saving target of 50 million euros (57 million U.S. dollars).

The three department stores in Moscow will be closed by the end of 2016, and then Stockmann will focus on the remaining two department stores in Russia, respectively in St Petersburg and Ekaterinburg.

The department store in Oulu, northern Finland, currently employs 230 workers, and it is expected to stop operation in early 2017.

In addition, the group's fashion subsidiary Lindex is also considering to shut down its 19 stores on Russia, due to the insecure outlook for the retail market in the country, according to the press release.

On Friday, Stockmann published its financial statement of year 2014. Its revenue was 1.85 billion euros in 2014, down by 9.5 percent from 2013.

The group's CEO Per Thelin said to Finnish daily Helsingain Sanomat the closure of department stores is part of Stockmann's efficiency program, which aims to reverse the result back to profitability.

Thelin admitted that the retail sector is going through a challenging time, and Stockmann has failed to make sufficient efforts to meet the weak economic development and the changes in the competitive situation.

Robin Santavirtaa, an financial analyst from Handelsbanken Finland, speculated that the retail group "is currently in crisis."

Stockmann's balance sheet is stable, but the operation deficit is a cause for concern, Santavirtaa told Finnish national broadcaster Yle.

The analyst attributed the losses to the depressed Finnish economy and the changes witnessed in the retail sector. He referred to the booming online trade.

Stockmann's profits continued to decline in recent years. The retail group has tried to reverse the financial difficulties since mid-2014.

Last October, Stockmann proclaimed its reconstruction plans, which resulted in shutting down all Seppala fashion stores in Russia, and significantly reducing Seppala's operations in Finland and the Baltic countries.

Earlier in this month, the group disclosed its plan to sell Seppala.

Founded in 1862, Stockmann is a Finnish listed company engaged in the retail trade with 16 department stores and over 700 stores in 16 countries around the world. Its department store in downtown Helsinki is the biggest in the Nordic region. Endit