SENG sustains ambitions of growth despite challenging market

The bed store chain SENG, which changed name from SengeSpecialisten in January 2023, sustains its plans of expansion in Sweden in spite of the challenging market situation.

SENG closes the financial year 2022/23 with a turnover in Denmark of DKK 192.5m and an EBIT-result of DKK -5.7m, which is a decline from last year where the turnover landed at DKK 207m and an EBIT-result of DKK 9.6m. However, this was expected according to CEO of SENG, Hanne Bang Vorre.

”The second half of the financial year has been characterised by a positive development in turnover despite of the extra costs related to our name change, but it has not been enough to fully compensate for the challenges in the market in the first half year,” says Hanne Bang Vorre.

”Therefore, the result was expected in the light of the inflation, the increasing interest rates, high energy prices etc. We are pleased that the development has turned for the better and that our new name and visual identity has been well received by our customers,” she adds.

Hanne Bang Vorre expects an improved result for the coming financial year, which also holds a milestone for SENG.

”In Denmark, I expect us to be able to deliver a positive result next year, while we are expecting another deficit in Sweden – although a smaller one than this year. We are maintaining our focus on rebuilding all our stores to fit the new SENG-concept, so we can get the customers back again,” she says and adds: ”Furthermore, we are celebrating our 25th anniversary in May 2024, which we will of course mark with a great celebration in our stores.”

Continued belief in the Swedish market

In Sweden, SENG’s annual accounts were affected by an extraordinary amortization of goodwill of DKK 8.6m and are furthermore characterized by the large investments made by the company in continuation of the acquisition of the Swedish bed store chain, Sängjätten, in 2021.

”In Sweden, we have invested resources in the roll-out of our concept in all our stores and we have also taken over three Swedish franchise stores and incorporated them into our concept as well,” says Hanne Bang Vorre and continues: ”This process is cost-intensive, but we will not compromise on having the right concept in every single one of our stores.”

In addition to the investments, the general market situation in Sweden has also affected the annual results but this does not influence the overall ambitions of growth.

”Sweden has been even more affected than Denmark in terms of increased interest rates and inflation and a decline in disposable income for the consumers,” says Hanne Bang Vorre and continues: ”But we still believe in the Swedish market and will continue to invest in our business in Sweden.”

The subsidiary to SENG, Sengetid.dk, which is a pure online business, has seen a positive development in EBIT and therefore closes the financial year with a smaller deficit than last year.

”As with SENG, the plan is to expand Sengetid.dk to more countries and we start by launching a Swedish platform under a new name in December 2023,” Hanne Bang Vorre says.

SENG thus closes the financial year 2022/23 with a total turnover for the group of DKK 307.8m and a result before tax of DKK -61.6m.

About SENG:

SENG consists of 31 Danish stores and 20 stores in Sweden, where another store is underway. The subsidiary to SENG, Sengetid.dk, is a pure online player. SENG has been owned 100 percent by Lars Larsen Group since 2020.