SkiStar AB (publ) (SKIS-B.ST) 2026-09-30 Earnings Call Transcript

Good day, and thank you for standing by. Welcome to the SkiStar Year End Report Q4, 1st of September 2025 to 31st of August 2026 webcast and conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session. To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone. You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your speakers today, Stefan Sjöstrand, CEO, and Sara Uggelberg, CFO. Please go ahead.

Thank you so much, and welcome everyone for this quarter and full year presentation. We will start to take you through this today, and we have an agenda where we will talk about, first of all, the quarter, then the full year performance. Sara will give you a full update about the financial and the numbers, and I will end with an outlook and a summary. If we just start like an introduction. SkiStar is the market leader for Scandinavian mountain tourism. We had this 50 years anniversary last year, and we are really passionate about the mountains and how we can continue to develop all the experiences within the mountains. We have an extensive land and property holdings, which will enable us to, and also continue the organic growth within all our destinations. We can also see that we have strong growth opportunities through our year-round operation, and we can also see that the last couple of years and also in the future, we can continue to build new businesses. Since we build new businesses, it will also be connected to our business model we will also show you later on. We also have a very strong and also a growing interest from international guests, which has been proven the last couple of years. Also something we sometimes forget to talk about, that SkiStar is the fourth largest player within this area. The number one is Vail Resorts, which is listed on the Nasdaq New York. The second one is Alterra Mountain Company, which is owned by private equity. Then we have Compagnie des Alpes, which is listed on the French stock market. Then we have SkiStar as number four. Just as a comparison, the fifth largest player within Scandinavia is a little bit smaller than we are. We have a strong position, and Sälen, which is the largest destination within our portfolio, is also the 13th largest ski resort in the world. If we then go into look into our Q4 and our full year performance, I am really happy and also really glad to present the strong report after a very intensive year. We can really clearly see that our company is growing as a result of all the efforts we have done together. If we look into the last quarter, Q4, and the summary of that one, it is our fifth summer season. We can really show now that this all-year-round strategy starts to be proven. In the beginning, five years ago, we invested a lot within summer activities. We invested in climbing parts, in biking roads. We invested in different type of summer activities. Now we have learned how to create bundling of all these activities together and also launch an activity pass, which has been very appreciated among all our guests during the summer. When we also have a lot of guests, which I've had during the quarter, we can also see that our business model deliver. All our revenue streams actually growing within the quarter. That resulted in a strong growth, 29%, and also an increased profitability of 12%. We can also see that another additional thing we have started with is to provide different type of events. That could be training events, it could be running events, marathons, etc., within the mountains. Very luckily, all those ones has been sold out. That also, again, when the guest is coming to us, they book a stay at our hotel or a lodge or at the cabin, or they have their own. Then they start to buy up. They buy an activity pass, they buy lunch, since we're also providing a lot of restaurants. They buy things in our sports shops, etc. Again, our year-round strategy really starts to be proven, and the management also believe that we have cracked the code how to run the summer business. If we then look into the full year, we're also really proud of our result and how we have performed this year. Our strategy is confirmed by work with skistar.com and also add different type of revenue streams. Since we have done that, we have growth in all revenue streams, and we can see that we continue the growth. We can also see that there is a strong demand for mountain vacations and all year-round activities. That is also helping us that we are filling up our destinations, and we do it very successfully. We can see that we have an increased number of international guests. We ended up last year with 40% international guests, and even though the Swedish guest has been slower the last couple of years, we can see that they are now returning back to our destinations. We also continue to invest. We continue to invest very specific. We are very coordinated of how we are doing our investments, and we're doing them all the time to increase our guest experiences. We can clearly see that all the investment we made last year has increased our NPS value with guest experiences. 8% increase in net sales, two points above our financial targets. We deliver a very strong operating profit of SEK 872 million, an 11% increase. However, we didn't do any exploitation gains last year, which creates this result even stronger, and we actually increase with 18%. Also deliver an operating margin with 17.5% and starts to become closely to our goal of 18%. Again, we have 6.4 million ski and activity days, which is a slight increase from the year before. Again, we had an increase. Just an update about our business model, because we really believe that this business model is so important, and we own our distribution channel. We own the distribution channel for skistar.com, our EQPE brand, eqpestore.com, and also skistarshop.com, where we're also providing other brands. This is very important. We don't need to pay any booking fees like if you are connected to booking.com, etc. skistar.com, we own our own distribution channel. Of course, the last couple of years, we have been very successful of developing new revenue stream, and they are very diversified. That, of course, helping us to continue the growth. What we're also showing on this slide is that in the bottom of it, we are showing all the different parts of the revenue streams and how the customer buying up before they arrive to our destinations. When they arrive, they come with a full wallet and continue to spend. We're also using our dynamic pricing model, which has also been very successful the last couple of years. Also with this multiple point of guest interaction, it's also helping us to continue the growth. Also all this customer data we are collecting enable us to also tailor the sales and also becoming very successful of how to be more specific in and where we want the customer to look after different type of offers. If we then look into the international guests, they have been very important for us the last couple of years. When we have seen a weaker domestic market, the international guests have supported us to drive revenue and growth. Now we can see that we are also increasing the domestic guests again, and that means that we can have a higher leverage of the base. So international guests will continue to be here, and also they will help us to drive even more growth because they also book full package in advance. They stay longer. They also spend more. Also their peak weeks have a different week than the Swedish holidays, which is, of course, very good from a, say, filling perspective or booking pattern perspective. So I will also show you that we have now a new segment reporting. That also shows SkiStarshop in another dimension than we have showed it previously. Here we can be proudly present a CAGR growth of 12% over a very long period of time, but also very strong growth both this last year where we grow 10% within SkiStarshop. Even when we can see that this market in general have had tough times, we continue to grow both physical stores and online. Also very glad to see that EQPE, our own brand, is increasing with 25%. Lastly, from my side, before we go into the financials, we have been very successful in our investments, and we are doing investments in a very specific way and very clear to all the time increase the guest experience. Just as an example, this project we put up last year in Åre Björnen, where we provided with more lighting in the slopes, we put up a new lift, and by that we could open up the ski area two hours earlier and closing two hours later, which means that we could give a completely different offer to our guests. Another example, when we open up a new ski area in Hovde Syd in Vemdalen where we had a lot of traffic during peak weeks, all of a sudden we open up completely and we actually managed to open up without the queuing. But maybe one of the most investments we are doing, which is something we have done very heavily during this off-winter peak, so to say, is the investment in snow production. We launched in the end of the winter season last year, and we have spoken about the whole summer period and will be actually our main marketing message that we will provide the best snow guarantee in Scandinavia. Of course, with these snow investments, that will be a strong competitive advantage going forward. So by that, Sara, I hand over to you and let's look at the financials in detail.

Thank you, Stefan. First of all, I would like to begin with the change in segment reporting that has been made during the fourth quarter 2025 to 2026. The reporting or the change has also had a retrospective effect. Now we report into two segments, which are Mountain Resorts and SkiStarshop. The change has been made to better reflect the internal steering and the internal reporting and governance. We will also publish restated numbers for the quarter one, quarter two, and quarter three last year, and that will be published on our website for you to better compare the segments for the full year last year. That will be published within a week or so. Then if we continue with the development in net sales, as you can see in the graph, we ended up with a net sales of SEK 4.9 billion or more or less SEK 5 billion, and that was a revenue growth of 8.3%. Excluding exportation revenue, that is no longer included in net sales. If we adjust for acquisition and currency, the growth was 5.4%. The reason for the revenue increase is, as Stefan mentioned, first of all, of course, our integrated business model that drives volume and growth. We do have a pricing power, and we have the ability, and we continue to increase our price as related to ski pass and accommodation, etc. The growing international share is also helping us to improve our margins and the growth. We have a lot of diversified revenue stream, as Stefan mentioned, which of course is very much appreciated by our guests because all of them strengthen the guest experience. We have, as Stefan also mentioned, we have made significant investments last year. For example, the gondola in Trysil, the new ski area in Hovde Syd, Vemdalen, and also lightning and ski lift in Åre Björnen. Just to mention a few of the investments that were made last year, and we will continue to invest in the guest experience going forward. If we continue with the operating income, this is not net sales, this is operating income, which is more or less the same as net sales by category. If we start with ski pass, the total effect of revenue growth was 6%, of which price and mix stands for 5.7 and the volume growth was 0.3%. The accommodation growth 6.3%, and the major effect was related to price and mix, 5.9%, and volume growth, 0.4%. The acquisition of Högfjällshotellet was 1.6% of the growth. If we continue with sport shops, which is part of the new segment, SkiStarshop, we improved the retail sales by 13.2%, and that was driven by the increase in EQPE that stands for 25% of the growth. We increased the growth related to restaurants. The majority of that was driven by the acquisition of Högfjällshotellet. Then we had included in other income, we had a claim compensation or an insurance compensation of 11%. As we mentioned, I think in the previous quarter last year, we had got a claim compensation related to a bridge that was demolished last year in Vemdalen. All in all the revenue growth was 8% for the year. If we continue with the operating margin, the operating margin was 17.5%, which is a quite significant increase in comparison with last year, 1.4 percentage point. The reason for the growth was, of course, the revenue growth, 8.3%, and that we have continued to improve both the guest experience that increased the volume. Then, of course, we have improved the resource allocation or the cost control that has enabled us to have a rather solid increase in costs. We have also had increased profit from our joint ventures now in the fourth quarter. That relates to Skiab and also the associated company Lima-Transtrands församling. That stands for SEK 18 million during the fourth quarter, the improved profit in joint ventures. As we have mentioned before, we have only had minor property transaction during the year or expectation gains. They were SEK 3 million last year in comparison with SEK 46 million in the year before. Of course, the underlying improvement in operating margin was 18% when we reflect that we did not have any property transaction. We also had, if we take a look at the staple, the underlying profit or operating profit was SEK 870 million, and that is actually the best underlying profit in SkiStar's history, which is, of course, very satisfactory. I would just like to mention that in our third quarter, we did mention that we had underlying one-off or sorry, one-off items that impacted the operating margin. Those were related to the insurance compensation, as I mentioned, but also that we made a reversed impairment of rental equipment that affected the operating profit with SEK 21 million. If you take a look at the operating profit development by segment, of course, it is more or less the same as I already mentioned, but just a brief description. If we start with Mountain Resorts, the operating profit improved by 9%, and it is due to or related to a strong revenue growth due to price. The majority is, of course, price and also product mix that has been favorable. We also were able to improve our operating margin despite cost inflation that we mentioned in the third quarter and volume-related cost increases. We did not have any property transaction during the quarter, but we have had improved profits related to our joint venture and associates. In the segment SkiStarshop, we did improve our operating profit by 10%, and it is a combination of strong growth in both online sales, physical stores, and not least rental business. The margin was improved by two points, up to 13%. In the full year, the effect for the currency effect was minor. It was just SEK 1 million. However, it was a bigger effect or a larger effect during the fourth quarter, but not on the full year. It was just a minor effect related to currency. Cash flow. We have a quite significant improvement in cash flow from our operating activities, and that is due to the improvement in operating profit. We have also made increase in CapEx during the year, and that is more or less related to the increase in snow production. That will be an effect even if we take a look at the future this next year, that will also be impacted by increase in snow production. The CapEx ratio was 12.7% last year. Our cash position is very strong. The financial preparedness as of 31st of August amounted to more or less SEK 1.3 billion, an increase in comparison with last year. That is, of course, related to improved profit. The increase in interest-bearing liabilities was SEK 1.6 billion, a decrease of more or less 7% in comparison with the previous year. Total interest-bearing liabilities recognized in accordance with IFRS 16 was SEK 1.9 billion, a decrease in comparison with last year. The majority relates to leases to our joint venture holding, Skiab, and the rest is more or less related to land leases or the opportunity for us to actually rent for very long time ski slopes. The net debt or the EBITDA structure was 1.3x, which is a very low number and even a decrease in comparison with last year. We have a really strong cash position. Sustainability, we have an ambitious agenda when it comes to sustainability. This page is just example of a lot of initiatives that are related to sustainability that took place last year. The first one is related to activity and recreation. The long-term goal is to achieve seven million ski and activity days by the end of 2030. During 2025 to 2026, we recorded 6.3 of ski days and activity days. That was an increase in comparison with the previous year. The ecosystem, of course, we continue to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We have actually had a quite, I think, interesting project last year together with Skiab. We have built a new accommodation in Sälen, which is called Wasakölen. It is a good example where we actually have been able to reduce climate impact as the production of this accommodation has been made with cement with a lower carbon footprint and recycled copper and aluminum. The third one is related to dialogue and interaction. Our guests, they actually have the possibility to travel to our destinations, to all our destinations fossil-free. We launched a new partnership in the fourth quarter with Snälltåget to further improve the possibility for our guests to travel fossil-free to our destinations in Norway. We have also made a quite significant engagement with 30 of our top suppliers. With support from them, we have the ambition to reduce emissions from purchased goods and services together with capital goods. That is a very important engagement with all of those 30 suppliers. A summary of our financial targets. The development has been stable, and the development in total, of course, enables us to further revenue growth and improve margin. The revenue growth in total was 8.3%, and the financial target was 6%. Operating margin 17.5%, and I would like to note again that this 17.5% excludes gains from expectations or property transactions. So this is just related to our underlying business. The cash position or the net debt position in relation to EBITDA was very good or low, 1.3x, and we have a quite significant headroom to our long-term target of 2.5x. We have suggested a dividend of SEK 3.5 per share to the AGM, which is an increase in comparison with last year. That will be 44% of the net profit. This is the final slide. This has been shown before, but this one is used internally. I think it's quite good illustration of what kind of initiative that we should focus on. All of those will enable us to actually further climb in our value chain. They are divided into the guest experience, that is, of course, our number one priority, followed by that we, of course, need to and want to use our resources efficient. Of course, the property development and the possibility for us to use our land, that is a significant number, and that will also enable us to grow organically in the future. So this is an illustration of the journey to, of course, to have the ability to reach our financial target of the margin of 18%.

Thank you, Sara. I will now give a short outlook. This last slide you shown is, of course, the result of this year is how we have been working with this model in a very significant way the last couple of years, where we also see it pays off now. If you look in for the outlook, we can see that we are showing a very strong demand for the winter holidays, and it is a prioritized activity among families. We are up with the winter bookings with 3%, and that's a very strong booking number. We could also see that drivers of this booking has been that the launch of this most extensive snow guarantee within Scandinavia has been very successful. The investments we are doing within snow production is really paying off, and we will continue to invest in snow production. We also have a very strong Christmas and New Year this year. We have an extra week, so to say, week 53 is there, and that will, of course, be very beneficial for us. We have an early Easter week this year. It's week 12-13. That means that we will have a tail in the end, and we will now work much more intense. If you look into the graph Sara showed before, how to really schedule and both our staff, but also secure we have the right opening times at the right place to secure a good end of the winter season where we failed last year a bit. So here we have a potential as well for the upcoming winter season. From a pricing point of view, we have said that we will continue to have quite low price or not any significant price increases in the lodging segment since we want our visitors to really make sure that they book a stay at our destinations. When they come and stay at our destinations, they will buy up and we will continue to increase the prices not only on ski passes, also on ski school, etc. Ski pass increase will be on a leverage between 4% and 5%, depending on what week you book. Again, we will not slow off from having the lowest price as well. So we will continue to have the lowest price on ski pass within the ski mountains. You could go and ski to a resort like Klövsjö/Storhogna where we provide, for example, 22 slopes, 16 lifts, an area which is as big as many ski areas within Sweden, for a very low price of skiing. We also will have an additional one for the upcoming winter, where we add in Åre Duved and the Tegefjäll into these resort passes as well after the last year's success. So we will continue to grow both in all the destinations we have, but also to launch these passes at the other ski areas, so to say. We haven't had, as Sara mentioned, and I also mentioned it, any property gains during this last year. I must say, I'm really proud that we can present a result without property gains. However, we are developing those detailed plans, and we are also sitting on very strong land bank, which is enabling us to continue both growth within ski areas as well as grow in this property accommodations area. So stay tuned and we will present when we are ready. We are not selling any land for low price. We are selling land for the right price, and that's why we are waiting, and we have time to wait. That's an important signal from us to you guys. My last slide is also outlook, and really proud of the development of our organization and our destinations since it's really enabled us to improve our margin as well our continued growth. We have had a very intense year behind us, where we also met some challenges in the end of the season, where we also came together and also strengthening our organization to go together as a common organization towards these goals, and that's also why we present a very strong result. That will also help us to come into this new year, 2026/2027, in a good manner, so to say. We also have now this year-round strategy to be proven, and I must say, management are also very confident now that we have cracked the code for the summer. We can also see that we have an increased profit during the Q2 to Q4. Q1 is still, of course, a very tough quarter to increase revenues. But Q2 to Q4 will be very important that we will continue to do that. Sara has mentioned it, but I think sometimes we talk a lot about slopes, we talk a lot about investments, we talk about lifts, etc. But sometimes we really forget to talk about our cash flow. We have a very strong cash flow. We have SEK 1.2 billion in free cash flow of this year. We have an improved cash flow of SEK 160 million this year, and that makes us, of course, in a very strong financial position, which will help us and then enable us to continue to invest in strengthening our guest experiences. Lastly, but not least, we will launch the best and most extensive snow guarantee, and it will continue at our destinations. Of course, what I could have add in this outlook also is that, of course, we increased the dividend. Sara said that we increased the dividends with 16%. The result is +11, the dividend is proposed to increase with 16%. Of course, that also is a good message to the market that we will continue to invest, but also we give a dividend to the shareholders. Thank you so much, and looking forward for some questions.

Thank you. To ask a question, you will need to press star one and one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one and one again. Thank you. We will now go to our first question. One moment, please. The first question today comes from the line of Alice Beer from ABG Sundal Collier. Please go ahead.

Good morning, Stefan and Sara. Just starting off with Norway. The Norwegian mountain resort sales rose to NOK 94 million. But FX only contributed about NOK 28 million of group wide. What is the price volume split in Norway like?

Oh, Sara, should you.

Alice, can you please repeat?

Of course. What is the price volume split like in Norway, since FX contributed, I mean, a lot, but not the whole way to the Norwegian segment?

Normally, we actually do not show the split between the markets price volume, actually. We show it in-

In total.

-in total, since we do not share that information, so to say. It is a good question, but we give a pass on that one, actually.

Yeah. Okay, fair enough. Since the SkiStarshop segment is new, could you just walk us through the profitability profile in this segment? What is the most volatile cost drivers, and how scalable is it?

I can start to give a flying-in perspective on that business. Then I really would like Sara to elaborate on your question. Because five years ago, when we decided for a new strategy, we could see that there was a hole in the market, so to say, on both physical shops at our destinations. We made some small vertical acquisitions in Trysil, and also we made a small acquisition in Klövsjö, etc., to really strengthening our presence from a physical store perspective. At the same time, we also accelerated our e-commerce site, where we wanted to make sure we could deliver a strong offer to our customers on the skistarshop.com site. Thirdly, we decided also to continue and accelerate the development of SkiStar own brand, EQPE. That is why we also launched the eqpestore.com. From a historical perspective, we decided to do that. Now when we start to become quite big in this segment, we wanted to create a more highlight on that segment as well. An important part, of course, showing highlight on that segment. Sara, could you elaborate on the scalability on that one?

Just to mention that in previous reporting, we divided our net sales into rental and sport shops, and those two are now included in the new segment, SkiStarshop. SkiStarshop segment comprises of three different areas, so to speak, and it is physical stores, online sales, and rental business. If you take a look of the margin between those three areas, obviously the online sales has the lowest margin, followed by physical stores and then rental. Of course there is a different type of margin between those areas. I am not sure if that was the answer to your question, Alice?

That is fine. Just to follow up then. The loss in that segment increased this year from SEK 17 million-SEK 25 million, despite a growth of 13%. Could you just talk a bit about that? Was it bad timing? Or did you have to do a lot of marketing?

No, it is a combination, I would say, three different aspects or items. First of all, it is a timing effect because the segment has been impacted by increase in merchandise related to rental equipment, and that is more or less a timing effect. Then also during the summer, by the end of the summer season, we made an inventory related to the rental equipment that actually, it was evident that we needed to make a write-off related to bikes of SEK 5 million. The third explanation is related to marketing spend. During the year, not just the fourth quarter, but during the year, last year, we actually increased the marketing efforts to improve our online sales, I would say. So we have actually spent more marketing money, and that is also related to the fourth quarter. The combination of those three, of which I would say two of them, the write-off of bikes and the timing of the purchase of rental equipment is more a timing effect.

Okay, perfect. Thank you. Moving on then. Personnel cost for the full year grew 6%, but the average headcount fell a bit. What is the wage inflation we should assume for next year?

In average, and it is a difference between Norway and Sweden. So in Sweden it is lower. I would say it is 3.2% related to Sweden, and then in Norway it is 4.5%, 4.7% next year. It is more or less the same this year or 2025 to 2026.

Okay, perfect. The outlook on 3% growth in winter bookings, could you just remind us, is that on an unchanged base of beds or how is the development split between increased occupancy and increased number of beds?

Yeah. We have lost some beds in Trysil. We have gained some beds in Sweden, so I think it is more or less the same. Some hundreds, maybe 200 beds plus or something like that, but almost similar as the year before.

Okay, great. Just how should we think about capital allocation? You spoke a bit about CapEx and the cash flow, but the dividend was raised, but the payout ratio sits a bit below 50% and leverage is down. Is it wrong to assume that this indicates a fairly heavy CapEx year ahead, or what's the investment pipeline like?

I would say that the CapEx for this year or 2026 to 2027 will be a bit higher than the previous year. That's due to the increase in snow production, but it will be around 12% or 13%, I would say 13% ratio to revenue. So a bit higher, but not enormously higher. It's still a bit higher than the previous year.

Okay, great. Just a final question from me. The full-year operating margin was about 17.6%, and that is awfully close to the target at 18%. What is your view on the margin in the upcoming year? Is an 18% margin contingent on a favorable calendar? Or is that reasonable long term?

I believe that we are in a strong position, Alice. I think the slide Sara showed with the three different parts of how we are working internally is that we both invest in developing different type of concepts, which we are showing now in this growth, which is giving us this 8% growth, this last year. The margin, which is improved, comes from these better allocations and how we are working with better scheduling, much better cost control. So we really believe that we are on the track for delivering the 18% without any property gains, actually. So we are in a strong position. Also to build a little bit on Sara's answer on the investments, we will be much more precise on where we invest. Let us say half of the investment is connected to reinvestment, so to say, and half of the investments will be new investments, and in the new investments, it will be very much focused on snow production, again, to show that we take leadership in snow production within Scandinavia without any competition at all in that sense, to be honest.

Okay, great. Thank you. That was all for me.

Thank you, Alice.

Thank you, Alice.

Thank you.

Next question today comes from the line of Karl-Johan Bonnevier from DNB Carnegie. Please go ahead.

Yes. Good morning, Stefan. I'm sorry. I'll maybe try to dig in a little deeper, if I can, to a couple of the questions I already put to you. Looking at Norway in the just finished year, it seems like you had a great success. What is the main driver there? Is it the international returning even more? Or the locals coming back more? Or what is the main driver?

Hey, Karl-Johan. I think the main driver in Norway has been that the international guest have had an higher share within Norway in general, in Hemsedal actually. In Trysil also, we could see that the airport, Sälen Airport, Scandinavian Mountains Airport, has been very successful delivering guests to especially Trysil also. The Danish guests are coming by ferry to Oslo from Copenhagen to Oslo, and then they take the car up to Hemsedal. So we have seen stronger international guests, but also that the investments we made in Trysil was very strong last year with this Trysilgondolen, which created a lot of interest actually.

Also looking at Q4, even adjusting for the currency effect, it seems like, say maybe the Norwegian summer product is going slightly better than the Swedish. Is it just that the Norwegian product is ahead of the Swedish one, looking at maturity? Or how do you see it?

That's a very good question. I think we decided to go back to focus on the three resorts during summer, and that has been a strategical right decision, both that we could take out some cost where we didn't get any growth. Then we can see that Åre is a resort where we have a lot of visitors. However, we don't offer all the revenue streams in Åre as we can provide in the same manner as we do in Trysil and Sälen. So that's why Trysil is a little bit ahead. To come to Trysil, it is also two hours from Oslo, which I think is also very important if you look into, for example, in Europe, Southern Europe, we can see that a lot of success in the summer business in the European resorts are connected to that they have a lot of people living quite close by. Trysil is quite easy access versus Åre or Sälen, for example, from the big areas where people live. So one of the main reasons why Trysil gets a lot of people. Trysil is the largest resort in Norway, of course, and which have also the best biking development within Norway, actually.

Also the long-term tradition of outdoor activities in Norway. You mentioned maturity, and I would say that that is one of the reasons as well.

Yes.

Excellent. Thanks for the extra color. Looking at when summing up the high season of 2025/2026, what kind of growth did you see in new guests that you didn't have in your databases before? Maybe also, where do you end up on SkiStar Member membership towards the end of year? I couldn't find that KPI somewhere.

We continue. The international guests, they ended up to be 40% during the winter season. Most of the new guests, they came from these air companies, TUI, easyJet, and so on. So there we got a lot of help from the airport, so to say, to get more and new international guests. You could also see that the Danes started to come, and then they have a very easy access by, for example, with Snälltåget. They go on to the train in southern part of Sweden, and then they travel the whole way, which has been very successful as well. The last question, what did you ask? You asked about SkiStar Member. Yes. We have continued to grow SkiStar Member, and I do not have the exact numbers here and now, but I see that we need to provide that information with the exact number of SkiStar Member members. We continue to grow that database.

Excellent. You mentioned the Scandinavian Mountain Airport a couple of times and seeing as a good demand driver for Trysil and Sälen. What kind of growth did you see in the capacity coming into the airport during the last season? Do you have any indications for what kind of capacity growth we might see for the coming season?

We are only a part owner of the airport, so we do not have, of course, all the numbers. We know that the lines from TUI, they have taken out one flight, but they have added in another. It will be quite the same. easyJet will continue, Lübeck Air will continue. Quite the same actually as last year. Last year, there was 44,000 packs coming in. We believe that it will be slightly the same. We also believe that the additional train opportunities will add some extra guests actually, and also an increased work with Danish agencies will also help us with some additional Danes coming into us as well.

Excellent. Looking at the pre-bookings up 3% at this stage, I remember last year you also gave an indication about how the early part of the season would go as there was this kind of strange shift in the base. How do you see that for the coming season? Is it still Christmas, New Year that is driving the pre-bookings at this stage, and there is still a huge gap to, say, basically cater coming up to Easter and the later part of the season?

Very good question. I am really glad that we could elaborate a little bit on that. The weeks between 51 to week one, so to say, we have a very strong booking situation at this moment right now, actually. That is all over the destinations, more or less, so to say. We could also, since this week 53 give us an additional week, more or less, which is, of course, extremely strong. We could also see that the winter break period between week seven and 10 is also quite well-booked, so to say, and we are a little bit slower right now in the period of week two to six. At the same time, for us, where we make the best profit, so to say, is between week 51 and one and week seven to 10. From a financial point of view, we are extremely satisfied with the bookings at the moment, how they look like.

Do you take any learnings with you from, say, the last season looking at how to drive, say, in-season demand, if you put it like that, to get those weaker weeks and maybe the end of the year up to the level where you want it to be?

Yes. We have learned how to be much better in how we operate our destinations. As an example, the week 51 and one, which will be extremely busy, we will have extra people and so on to make sure we have the right people on the right place. At the same time, we will have more slopes open since we have invested so much in the snow guarantee. The snow guarantee also drives booking. That is something which is really good. If you look into the end of the season, what I tried to describe in the call also about the tail, so to say, the end of the season, we will be much better in how we operate our end of the season within opening times, and also we will not have all destinations fully open as we have had previously. We will be much smarter of how we will be closing down part of the destinations compared to how it has been previously, because that is how we will also save cost compared to how it has been in the past. I think we have learned to be much more better in operation excellence based upon the past seasons, actually.

Perfect. One final, you mentioned also a couple of times that the Swedish guests have been much more switched on to do early bookings. Does that simplify this idea of filling up maybe also the slower weeks, so to say? Or is that just exaggerating the pattern you just talked about the strong weeks?

I think the Swedes have been very successful using this week two to six, for example, Valles Vinterveckor as we say, they are extremely popular among families with children. So they are a big contributor to that part of the year. We are really glad to see that the Swedish customer is coming back and we also see that the investments we have made, like I said, in snow production, but also, for example, in activities around the slopes. We are building an ice rink. We are building this snowman where you can play in the snow. We also have an extended F&B, where we also add a full package, which is also something which our guests want, especially the international guests. We have a lot of good things, and I am really comfortable about where we are at the moment. We have a momentum within SkiStar at this time for now.

One final number question as well before I pass back. Looking at the SkiStarshop retail operation, what is the split between physical and online at this stage?

It is still 50/50 actually. We continue to have a really strong growth in the physical stores. Again, when we have all these events during summer, what is really interesting to see how all revenue streams delivers. Because again, when we have an activity, like for example, just before and also the collaboration we have with Vasaloppet and also the bike in Vasaloppet. All numbers are handing out in our concept, SkiStarshop Store, where all the biking participants come to our facilities. They train before Cykelvasan. We hand out the numbers, and when they are there in the store, of course, they start to shop as well. We can see that all these events we create also support all our revenue streams as well. That is why I really would like to highlight the importance of the physical store development we have at our destinations, actually.

Yeah, and very good to see how healthy the operating margin looks for that operation on the full year perspective as well. Good extra disclosure, I must say. Good luck and all the best out there.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you. As a reminder, if you wish to ask a question, please press star one and one on your telephone. We will now go to the next question. The next question today comes from the line of Linus Alentun from Nordea. Please go ahead.

Yes, hi, and good morning, Stefan and Sara. Just a couple of questions from me here. Starting off with the past year, perhaps. Ski year and activity days were roughly flat and ski pass revenue was up 6% or 5.7%, I think was the exact number. I am just wondering if we could have a split here between price and mix, also with regards that you are guiding for 4%-5% price hikes here?

We can check it out. I am not sure if we can give you that number.

We cannot.

It's sort of a total evaluation that has been made internally.

If you look into, for example, the weeks between 51 and one, we have, of course, a high price increase on the lodging since there is a high demand, since we have these pricing tools, so to say. The same with ski pass, and that's also depending when you are buying the ski pass. If you are buying the ski pass the same day, you have a 10% increase. So it's all depending on. So it's too difficult to guide on that, actually. That's why we say in general, like we are saying right now, in 4%-5%.

But the majority is related to price.

Yes. Yes. That is true.

Yeah.

But we still see that we will have a volume increase this year.

Yes.

Yeah.

Yep. All right. I think you mentioned that Sälen here has a pretty good situation on the bookings. Is there any other resorts that stands out in any way up and down?

We decided to give a flavor on that booking, and maybe it gave a wrong signal two months ago when we did that. But the idea was to really show that our investments we made in this snow guarantee really pays off, I must say. So Sälen is the locomotive, so to say, with very high bookings. And the other ones is on a good level, and we can see that there is still high demand on mountain vacations. So we are really looking forward, actually, for the winter seasons now, since we see that we probably taking some market shares this year with all these efforts we are doing, especially in the investments we are doing.

Yep. That sounds great. And just a question on those investments here and on the snow guarantee, perhaps. I am just wondering, have you done any scenarios of potential cost exposure if we happen to have a mild winter here with little natural snow?

No, we haven't done that since we build our. If you look into historical forecasts, how it will look like from the weather predictions, etc., we will have minus degrees. And what we are doing is that that's why we invest in so many snow guns. I think Lindvallen last year was a brilliant example that we could open up Lindvallen and fully secure delivering our snow guarantee. And compared to the competitors in the surroundings, I am still. I should not talk about them, but we open up in a very good, secured way. And by the investments we have done for this year, we can open up with even more slopes. We are fully confident in that.

All right.

I just want to elaborate a bit on that as well, because I think what is very important is that I got excited when I traveled to Sälen and see a pump house close to the river. How can you be excited by seeing a pump house close to the river? That is because we are doubling the water capacity. Doubling the water capacity means that we could push more water, which is getting snow when it is -2 degrees. So we do not need so much cold actually to be able to produce snow. I think that is something which is unique in what we have invested in right now. We have invested in pump capacity. We have invested in snow guns. We have invested in pipes. That will help us to fill the slopes with snow faster than we ever have done earlier. We will continue to invest in pump house, in water, in snow guns next year to even increase our snow guarantee even more going forward. We are super proud of that.

Understood. All right. Thank you very much for taking my questions here. I will get in line.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you. There are currently no further questions. I will hand the call back to Stefan for closing remarks.

Thank you so much for taking the time with us today. It was more than an hour call, but we are also very proud of the result we have delivered and also trust that you have got the answer on the questions you have asked to us. We are looking forward for the upcoming winter season, and I hope that many of you will come and visit us during the winter. So thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. Thanks for participating. You may now disconnect.