STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 13, 2002 (PRIMEZONE) -- Lindex has agreed to a deal with Ikanobanken in Sweden and with IKANO Finans AS in Norway. The deal means that Lindex transfers its credit card portfolio consisting of approximately 700,000 credit customers. The agreement will give Lindex a capital contribution of approximately SEK 270M.
Through the collaboration, Ikanobanken will handle all administration relating to Lindex's credit card, Lindex Club. Ikanobanken can handle the administration of the card more cheaply than Lindex.
"We anticipate that our profitability for the card will increase by approximately SEK 5M during the first year and that we will improve our annual cash flow as a result of the deal. The collaboration enables us to focus even more on improving our core operation - retail clothing. We will continue to own the actual card concept and the card as a marketing channel," said Jorgen Johansson President and CEO of AB Lindex. "We will also further develop our systems which will enable us to use our database for more customer specific offers," he continued.
The capital contribution of approximately SEK 270M, which Lindex will receive when IKANO takes over trade debtors, will be used for the company's continued expansion. Lindex will continue to strengthen its position in established markets and develop Twilfit in the Nordic countries.
"We see this as proof that Ikanobanken is very good at creating benefits for its partners through credit card collaboration," said Eva Engdahl, President of Ikanobanken. Once again, we provide a cross-border solution which will enable our collaboration partner to improve its cost efficiency. The volume generated through the collaboration will help Ikanobanken to win an even larger market share in the future," continued Eva Engdahl.
Lindex Club (formerly Lindex Card) currently has around 1 million cardholders in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany. In Germany and Finland the Lindex Card is simply a charge card without a credit function.
The Lindex Group consists of two retail chains: Lindex with 353 stores of which 319 are in the Nordic market and 34 stores in Germany, and Twilfit with 61 stores in Sweden of which 13 are operated as franchise stores. The Group's product areas are Ladies' Wear, Lingerie and Children's Clothing.
Ikanobanken was founded in 1995. It is owned by IKANO and IKEA. The company forms part of the financial division of IKANO Group which has operations in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and United Kingdom. One business area of Ikanobanken markets services for financing and sales support to the retail trade. Current collaboration partners include IKEA, Svenska Volkswagen, Bauhaus and My Travel. Ikanobanken has approximately 130 staff who all work at the office in Almhult.
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-0- AB Lindex Jorgen Johansson, President and CEO +46 322-777 02 +46 705-94 21 22 (Mobile) Peter Andersson, Chief Financial Officer +46 322-778 50 +46 705-84 44 37 Ulrika Danielson, Manager of Communications +46 322-74 400 +46 709-50 16 13 (Mobile) Ikanobanken Eva Engdahl, President +46 476-880 32 +46 709-16 22 48 (Mobile)