Europris Sales Fall 1.6% in Third Quarter Despite Higher Gross Margin
Key Facts
Europris said third-quarter 2026 sales totaled 3,473 million Norwegian kroner, down 1.6% on a reported basis from 3,528 million in the same period a year earlier, but up 0.6% at constant currency. Operating profit, or EBIT, fell to 244 million kroner from 256 million, and its margin declined to 7.0% from 7.3%. By contrast, gross profit rose to 1,459 million kroner from 1,437 million, lifting the margin to 42.0% from 40.7%. The figures put gross-margin growth alongside weaker sales and operating profit during the quarter. Operating performance improved over the first nine months, highlighting the difference between the quarterly and nine-month results.
Europris's chief executive said summer discounts began early in the season and campaigns did not achieve their targeted effectiveness. The executive added: "Our campaigns were not as effective as we had targeted. As a result, we did not attract the number of customers we had hoped for in the third quarter." The remarks explain the weaker customer attraction the executive cited, while the company recorded a higher gross margin during the period. The official disclosure did not link the results to market expectations, but presented sales, operating profit and margin indicators against the prior year. The comparison shows that the decline in operating profit did not prevent an improvement in the gross margin.
In the first nine months of 2026, Europris's EBIT rose to 710 million Norwegian kroner from 642 million in the same period of 2025, and its margin increased to 6.8% from 6.2%. This contrasts with the third-quarter EBIT decline, making the nine-month picture different from that of the quarter alone. PSI Software increased consolidated revenue by 3.6% to 210.9 million euros in the first nine months, compared with 203.6 million a year earlier. But revenue alone does not capture the company's operating picture: PSI revised its annual outlook in August amid economic uncertainty in Europe. In September, it launched an additional cost-cutting program aimed at consolidating responsibilities that had been distributed across the company and standardizing procedures.
PSI had previously expected revenue and order intake to grow by about 10%, with an adjusted EBIT margin of about 4% for fiscal 2026. It then cut its outlook to 5% revenue growth, order intake at the prior year's level and an adjusted margin of about 2%, assuming risks remained stable. On 20 October 2026, Warburg Pincus announced a public takeover offer aimed at delisting PSI shares from the regulated market after the acceptance period ends. This places the company's results in the context of an annual outlook revision, a cost-cutting program and the takeover offer. Revenue and margin expectations remain tied to the company's stated assumption that risks will remain stable.
On Norwegian monetary policy, Norges Bank said its next interest-rate decision will be announced on 5 November 2026. The bank said the rate path underpinning its outlook anticipates inflation slowing from the following year and falling to 2% in 2029. The bank thus links its inflation outlook to the period ahead, without the decision date alone implying a prediction of the outcome. The date follows Norwegian companies' disclosures of their third-quarter performance, while comparisons of their results remain tied to each company's indicators and financial period. The upcoming decision has a specific date, while the inflation path in the bank's statement extends to 2029.