ACTIC is a listed Northern European operator of wellness facilities with a focus on Sweden, Norway and Germany. The company operates 173 gyms, 101 of which are in bathing facilities, and the company's mission is to offer the most convenient and inspiring workout space in growing medium and small cities. In the first half of the year, the facilities in Norway and Germany were closed for much of the period due to the pandemic and were only able to resume operations at the end of the second quarter. In addition, closures of pools, a lower membership base and lower demand for personal training had a negative impact on turnover. The membership base decreased to 167,144 at the end of the reporting period compared to 201,446 in the previous year and the average revenue per member and decreased by -11% to SEK 266 (EUR 25.95). Net sales for the first half of the year amounted to SEK 278.4m (EURm 27.2), a decrease of -27.9%. EBITDA was SEK 48.8m (EURm 4.8), which corresponds to a margin of 17.5% (previous year 30.1%).
Anders Carlbark stepped down as CEO of Actic earlier this year and Anna Eskhult took over as "Acting CEO" with the support of Olav Thorstad, as interim Director of Strategy and Operations. Anna Eskhult, comments on her company's strategy:
"New work habits and digital development mean that the way we work is changing at a rapid pace. Covid-19 has accelerated the development and is very likely to lead to more people working from home even after the current pandemic. The evolution means that everyday health, proximity to the gym at home and opportunities for social interaction combined with exercise are becoming more important to our customers than before.
Digital maturity is also leading to more and more people starting their customer journey with Actic online and enabling new forms of training. We are therefore evolving our business model at a rapid pace to meet the new needs of our customers. By the end of 2020, we have launched Actic Anywhere in all countries, our digital platform for training with everything from PT-online to advice and pre-selected training programmes, and in 2021 the offering will be further expanded. Our outdoor training concept, Actic Outdoor Box, continues to be popular with fully booked courses and meets the demand for training with weights outdoors. Therefore, we will also increase the investment in outdoor training with Actic Outdoor Box in the spring with a further 20 locations in Sweden, one location in Norway and one location in Germany."
"This is just the beginning of a journey towards an omnichannel offering that is aligned with changing customer preferences, where exercise is becoming a health issue for more and more people, and should be a natural part of life where we spend time in our daily lives. We will lead this development." (Anna Eskhult, Acting CEO ACTIC)
Source: ACTIC Group AB
Picture: ACTIC Group AB