STRAX: STRAX INVESTS IN BRANDVAULT TO TARGET GLOBAL ONLINE MARKETPLACES

Global mobile accessories specialist STRAX today announces its investment in Brandvault Global Services Ltd as part of a strategic move to expand its global ecommerce reach.

Online retail is a key area of STRAX’s strategic plan and the new partnership with Brandvault has been formed to capitalize on the ever-growing opportunity offered through major players in the global ecommerce marketplace. Whilst Amazon will be the initial priority, Brandvault will also work with other ecommerce leaders such as eBay. Furthermore, Brandvault will take responsibility for online customer acquisition of STRAX’s proprietary and licensed brands.

STRAX has already seen early ecommerce success in this area through initial trials with T Mall and JD in China, and Amazon Japan where it now sells over 500 cases a day with its adidas licensed phone cases.

Brandvault is led by Michael Bartlett, former Commercial Director of consumer electronics distributor Kondor. Bartlett helped oversee the rapid growth of Kondor between 1999 and 2016, and brings a wealth of experience in consumer electronics, as well as a proven track record of ecommerce trading and branded portfolio growth.

Commenting on the new group, Michael Bartlett says: ”I am incredibly excited to be working with STRAX and its impressive collection of leading brands. STRAX has a fantastic global footprint and high growth tier one brands, and I look forward to leading Brandvault and capitalising on the huge ecommerce opportunities.”

STRAX CEO, Gudmundur Palmason, commented: “I’m excited about this online expansion as it is strategically important for STRAX to succeed in this area as it becomes an increasingly significant channel within our category. STRAX initial 10 percent ownership in Brandvault will serve as a bridge head for our online expansion.”

For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, Strax AB, +46 8 545 01750.

For further information please contact Michael Bartlett, Managing Director, Brandvault Global Services Limited, +44 07966 209777. 

About STRAX
STRAX is a market-leading global company specializing in mobile accessories and connected devices. STRAX has built a House of Brands to complement its value-added customer-specific solutions and services. STRAX House of Brands includes proprietary brands: XQISIT, GEAR4, Urbanista, THOR, avo+, FLAVR, Eule and licensed brands: adidas and bugatti. In addition STRAX represents over 40 major mobile accessory brands. STRAX sells into all key channels ranging from telecom operators, mass merchants and consumer electronics to lifestyle retailers and direct to consumers online. STRAX was founded in Miami and Hong Kong in 1995 and has since grown across the world. Today, STRAX has over 200 employees across 13 countries with its operational HQ and logistics center based in Germany. STRAX is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm stock exchange.

About BRANDVAULT
BRANDVAULT is a global ecommerce company specialising in mobile accessories and connected devices. The company sells to a wide range of online global marketplaces such as Amazon and eBay. BRANDVAULT provides a range of services including enhanced content creation and online customer acquisition. BRANDVAULT was founded in the UK in 2018. For more information, please visit: www.brandvault.com


STRAX: INTERIM REPORT NO 2 FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2018

STRAX is taking immediate action to adjust to a rapidly changing business environment, with significant cost reductions and investments in
e-commerce as well as digitalization tools to future proof the business, whilst continuing to pursue the house of brands strategy.
  • The Group’s sales for the period January 1 – June 30, 2018, amounted to MEUR 45.8 (43.5), gross margin increased to 32.5 (27.9) percent.
  • The Group’s result for the period January 1 – June 30, 2018, amounted to MEUR 0.2 (2.2) corresponding to EUR 0.02 (0.02) per share. Equity as at June 30, 2018 amounted to MEUR 20.9 (20.0) corresponding to EUR 0.18 (0.17) per share.
  • EBITDA for the period January 1 – June 30, 2018, amounted to MEUR 2.6 (3.3).  
  • STRAX fully understands and is prepared to address the extensive transformation its retail customers are going through; everything from e-commerce expansion, declining smartphone sales, growth of Asian OEMs to changes in consumer consumption and shopping patterns.

”STRAX has a solid foundation to become a distributor of the future: we have sound infrastructure, strong customer base, and highly qualified and motivated team, as well as a proven ability to change and transform when needed. I remain content with our house of brands strategy and optimistic that more profitable times are ahead.”

Gudmundur Palmason, CEO

For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, Strax AB, +46 8 545 01750.

This information is information that Strax AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08:55 CET on August 23, 2018.


STRAX:  BULLETIN FROM THE ANNUALGENERAL MEETING

At today’s Annual General Meeting in Strax AB (publ) it was resolved to adopt the income statement and the balance sheet for the company, as well as the consolidated income statement and balance sheet for the year 2017. Furthermore, it was resolved that the distributable funds should be transferred to profit carried forward. The Annual General Meeting resolved to discharge the board members and the CEO from liability.

It was resolved that the number of members of the Board of Directors, for the time until the end of the next Annual General Meeting, shall be five (5) ordinary Directors and no deputy Directors. It was resolved, in accordance with the Nomination Committee’s proposal, that Bertil Villard, Anders Lönnqvist, Gudmundur Palmason and Ingvi Tomasson are re-elected as members of the Board of Directors, and that Pia Anderberg is elected as a member of the Board of Directors, all for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. It was further resolved that Bertil Villard is re-elected as chairman of the Board of Directors for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. It was further resolved to elect PwC AB, with Niklas Renström as the auditor in charge, as the company’s auditor for the time until the end of the next Annual General Meeting.

It was resolved that each member of the Board of Directors who is considered to be independent in relation to major shareholders, shall receive SEK 150,000, and the chairman of the Board of Directors shall to receive SEK 225,000, as remuneration. It is thus Bertil Villard, Anders Lönnqvist and Pia Anderberg that shall receive remuneration, whereas remuneration to the Board of Directors shall be paid with a total of SEK 525,000. It was further resolved that the remuneration to the auditor, for the time until the end of the next Annual General Meeting, shall be paid as per current approved account.

The Annual General Meeting resolved to adopt the Board of Directors’ proposal regarding guidelines for remuneration for the company’s management and other employees.

It was further resolved, in accordance with the proposal from the Board of Directors, to authorise the Board of Directors to, up until the next Annual General Meeting, on one or several occasions and with or without preferential rights for the shareholders against cash payment or against payment through set-off or in kind, or otherwise on special conditions to issue new shares. However, such issue of shares must never result in the company’s issued share capital or the number of shares in the company at any time, being increased by more than a total of 10 per cent. The previous authorisation to issue new shares and which was given at last year’s Annual General Meeting, was valid up to this year’s Annual General Meeting and has consequently lapsed.

The Annual General Meeting resolved, in accordance with the Board of Directors’ proposal, to authorise the Board of Directors to resolve on the acquisition and sale of the company’s own shares. The following shall apply for acquisition and sale of the company’s own shares:

  1. Acquisition and      sale of own shares shall exclusively take place on Nasdaq Stockholm.
  2. The authorisation      may be utilised on one or several occasions until the 2019 Annual General      Meeting.
  3. Shares may be      acquired to the extent that the company’s holding of its own shares, on      any occasion, does not exceed ten (10) per cent of the company’s total      shares. Sale may be carried out of not more than the number of shares      acquired under this authorisation.
  4. Acquisition and      sale of shares may only take place at a price within the price interval,      on any occasion, recorded on Nasdaq Stockholm, which refers to the      interval between the highest buying price and the lowest selling price.

It was resolved, in accordance with the Nomination Committee’s proposal, to adopt principles for the appointment of the Nomination Committee to be in effect until the Annual General Meeting resolves otherwise.

Further, the Annual General Meeting resolved, in accordance with the Board of Directors’ proposal, to adopt a long-term incentive program and to issue warrants. The warrant program is addressed to the executive management and other employees in Strax. The warrant program comprises in total a maximum of approximately 35 individuals and not more than 1,000,000 warrants may be issued within the framework of the program.

Each warrant entitles the holder to subscribe for a share in the company during the period
1 September 2021 up to and including 30 November 2021 at a subscription price corresponding to 130 per cent of the volume-weighted average price of the Strax share on Nasdaq Stockholm during the period 10 days after the Annual General Meeting. If all of the 1,000,000 warrants are exercised, the warrant program entails a full dilution corresponding to approximately 0.8 per cent of the shares and votes in Strax.

Additional information regarding the resolutions of the Annual General Meeting can be found in the proposals to the Annual General Meeting, which were prepared and that can be found on the company’s website.

STRAX: INTERIM REPORT NO 1 FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2018

STRAX, the mobile accessory specialist, delivered solid top-line growth and strong improvement in gross margin in Q1, where proprietary and licensed brands lead the way
  • The Group’s sales for the period January 1 – March 31, 2018, amounted to MEUR 22 (20), gross margin increased to 30.4 (27.0) percent.
  • The Group’s result for the period January 1 – March 31, 2018, amounted to MEUR 0 (0) corresponding to EUR 0.00 (0.00) per share. Equity as at March 31, 2018 amounted to MEUR 21.0 (18.2) corresponding to EUR 0.17 (0.15) per share.
  • EBITDA for the period January 1 – March 31, 2018, amounted to MEUR 1.0 (0.6) an increase of 67% to be compared with a sales growth of 9% for the same period. The scalable growth model shows greater increase in profitability in relation to growth of revenues.
  • STRAX was awarded accessory contract with Vodafone UK to become its sole provider of mobile accessories across all of its 450 retail stores, enterprise business units and online channels via a full category vendor managed availability solution.
  • STRAX implemented a supply chain financing solution from CrossFlow, a London-based fintech company, within its supplier base.

”The House of Brands positioning coupled with our distribution capabilities in Western Europe has proved very successful with our customers.”
                                                                                                                                                                Gudmundur Palmason, CEO

 

This information is information that Strax AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 08:55 CET on May 24, 2018.

STRAX: AMENDED PROPOSAL FROM THE NOMINATION COMMITTEE

In the notice to the Annual General Meeting, summoned for May 24, 2018, the nomination committee presented a proposal to re-elect KPMG as auditors.

The nomination committee has notified the company this proposal has been revised and the suggestion to the AGM is to elect PwC, with Niklas Renström as main auditor.

For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, STRAX AB, +46 8 545 01750.

STRAX: ANNUAL REPORT 2017

STRAX AB has today published the Annual Report for 2017.

During the audit process some assessments have changed, resulting in differences in the reported profit or loss. The impacts are detailed below at an aggregated level.

The largest impact is relating to an updated judgement on reported values of tax carry forwards relating to the German entities. The impact increased reported tax costs for the period by EUR 608.

Operating profits have only seen a minor adjustment of KEUR -72.

Audit
Reported differences (KEUR) Year-end   report differences Annual report
Net sales 100 607 -542 100 065
Gross profit 28 645 -538 28 107
Operating profit 5 730 -72 5 658
Profit before tax 3 989 -434 3 555
Tax -1 160 -608 -1 768
Profit or   loss for the period 2 829 -1 042 1 787

Reported equity has changed from 22 086 to 21 028, a change of -1 058 represented by the change in profit or loss.

For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, STRAX AB, +46 8 545 01750.

This information is information that STRAX AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 08:55
CET on May 21, 2018.

STRAX: NOTICE TO THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Strax AB (publ)

The shareholders of Strax AB (publ) are hereby summoned to the Annual General Meeting to be held on Thursday 24 May 2018 at 4.00 p.m. (CEST) at the offices of Advokatfirman Vinge, Smålandsgatan 20, Stockholm, Sweden

Right to participate at the Meeting

To be entitled to participate at the Meeting, shareholders must

– be recorded in the register of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB on Friday 18 May 2018, and

– notify the company of their intention to attend the Meeting no later than at 4.00 p.m. CEST on Friday 18 May 2018.

Shareholders whose shares are registered in the name of a nominee through the trust department of a bank or similar institution must, in order to be entitled to participate in the Meeting, request that their shares are temporarily re-registered in their own names in the register of shareholders maintained by Euroclear Sweden AB. Such registration must be effected on Friday 18 May 2018. Shareholders are requested to inform their nominees in good time prior to this date.

Notification to attend the Meeting

Notification to attend the Meeting can be made in writing to Strax AB, Mäster Samuelsgatan 10,
SE-111 44, Stockholm, Sweden, by e-mail (ir@strax.com). Shareholders should, when notifying attendance, provide their name, personal identification or corporate registration number, address, telephone number, shareholdings and, where applicable, details of the attendance of any representative(s) and/or assistant(s). In addition, the notification shall, if applicable, be supplemented with complete authorisation documentation such as certificate of incorporation and powers of attorney for representatives.

Proxies, etc.

Shareholders who are represented by a proxy must authorise the proxy by issuing a dated power of attorney. If such authorisation is issued by a legal entity, an attested copy of a certificate of registration or similar must be attached. The power of attorney is valid one year from issuance, or such longer period as specified in the power of attorney, but maximum five years from issuance. The original authorisation and certificate of registration, where applicable, should be sent to Strax AB, Mäster Samuelsgatan 10, SE-111 44, Stockholm, Sweden, well in advance of the Meeting. A proxy form is available on the company’s website (www.strax.com).

Number of shares and votes

At the date of this notice there are in aggregate 120,592,332 issued shares and votes in the company. The company holds no own shares as of the date of this notice.

Right to request information

The shareholders are reminded of their right to request information pursuant to Chapter 7, Section 32, of the Swedish Companies Act.

Proposed Agenda

1.         Opening of the Meeting

2.         Election of the Chairman of the Meeting

3.         Drawing-up and approval of the voting list

4.         Approval of the agenda

5.         Election of one or two persons to approve the minutes

6.         Decision on whether the Meeting has been duly convened

7.         Presentation of the annual report and the audit report as well as the consolidated accounts and audit report on the consolidated accounts for the financial year 2017

8.         Decision regarding adoption of the income statement and the balance sheet as well as the consolidated income statement and the consolidated balance sheet

9.         Decision regarding appropriation of the company’s earnings in accordance with the approved balance sheet

10.      Decision regarding discharge from liability of the members of the Board of Directors and the CEO

11.      Decision on the number of Directors and deputy Directors

12.      Decision on the remuneration that shall be paid to the Board of Directors and the auditor

13.      Election of Chairman and other members of the Board of Directors, potential deputy members of the Board of Directors and auditor

14.      Proposal to resolve on guidelines for remuneration of the Management and other employees

15.      Proposal to authorise the Board of Directors to resolve upon new share issues

16.      Proposal to authorise the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase and transfer own shares

17.      Proposal to resolve on principles for appointing the Nomination Committee

18.      Proposal to adopt a long-term incentive program and issue of warrants

19.      Conclusion of the Meeting

Appropriation of the company’s earnings (item 9)

The Board of Directors proposes that the company’s results shall be carried forward.

The Nomination Committee’s proposals (items 2, 11-13)

The Nomination Committee, consisting of the chairman of the Nomination Committee Per Åhlgren (appointed GoMobile Nu AB), Gudmundur Palmason, Ingvi Tomasson as well as Bertil Villard in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Strax, proposes:

  •  that Bertil Villard shall be elected Chairman of the Annual General Meeting (item 2).
  •  that the Board of Directors shall consist of five members without deputies (item 11).
  •  that each member of the Board of Directors who is considered to be independent in relation to major shareholders, is entitled to receive SEK 150,000, and the chairman of the Board of Directors is entitled to SEK 225,000, as remuneration. According to the Nomination Committee’s proposal, Bertil Villard, Anders Lönnqvist and Pia Anderberg shall be entitled to receive remuneration, whereby the Directors’ total remuneration will amount to SEK 525,000 (item 12).
  •  that the auditor’s fees shall be paid as per current account as approved by the company (item 12).
  •  the re-election of Bertil Villard, Anders Lönnqvist, Gudmundur Palmason and Ingvi Tyr Tomasson as members of the Board of Directors for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. Pia Anderberg is proposed for election as a new member of the Board of Directors for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. Michel Bracké has declined re-election. Bertil Villard is proposed as chairman of the Board of Directors (item 13).
  •  the election of KPMG AB as auditor, with Mårten Asplund as auditor in charge, for the period until the end of the next Annual General Meeting. The proposition is in accordance with the Board’s recommendation (item 13).

Pia Anderberg

Born: 1964.

Pia Anderberg is Executive Vice President People & Innovation at Axel Johnson AB. Pia has worked for global organizations in the field of management consulting and also been an entrepreneur. Other board duties include: Åhléns, Novax, Hyper Island, Mitt Liv (Chairman) and Dib Hotel. Pia holds an MBA from Uppsala University.  

Shareholdings in the company: None.

Independent in relation to STRAX, the executive management and STRAX’s major shareholders.

Proposal to resolve on guidelines for remuneration of the Management and other employees (item 14)

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to approve the Board of Director’s proposal regarding guidelines for remuneration of the Management as set forth below. The proposal substantially complies with earlier applied guidelines for remuneration of the Management of the company and variable remuneration to the company’s employees. The Board of Directors as a whole serves as a remuneration committee in relation to matters regarding remuneration and other terms of employment for the Management of the company.

The Board of Directors annually monitors and evaluates on-going, and during the year completed, programs concerning variable remuneration. The Board of Directors also monitors and evaluates the current remuneration structure and levels of remuneration in the Company, the application of the guidelines approved at the Annual General Meeting regarding remuneration of the management and other employees, and otherwise consider the need for change. According to the Board of Directors, there are reasons for continuing with guidelines for remuneration and variable salary that are consistent with the previous year.

Strax shall offer conditions in line with the market which will enable the company to recruit and retain competent personnel. The remuneration of the Management of the Group shall consist of fixed salary, variable remuneration, share-based incentive programs, pension and other customary benefits. The remuneration is based on the commitment and performance of the individual in relation to individual objectives and joint objectives for the company which have been determined in advance. The individual performance is continuously evaluated.

The fixed salary is in general reviewed on a yearly basis and shall be based on the qualitative performance of the individual. The fixed salary of the CEO and the Management shall be in line with the market.

Strax may adopt share-based incentive programs intended to promote the company’s long-term interests by motivating and rewarding the management of the company, among others.

The Board of Directors may, if special circumstances are at hand in a certain case, resolve to deviate from the guidelines.

Proposal to authorise the Board of Directors to resolve upon new share issues (item 15)

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to authorise the Board of Directors to up until the next Annual General Meeting, on one or several occasions and with or without preferential rights for the shareholders, against cash payment or against payment through set-off or in kind, or otherwise on special conditions. However, such issue of shares must never result in the company’s issued share capital or the number of shares in the company at any time, being increased by more than a total of 10 per cent.

The reason for the proposal and the possibility to deviate from shareholders’ preferential rights in the proposal is, among other things, to facilitate for the company to carry out acquisitions with payment in shares or to otherwise procure the financing of the company in an active and appropriate manner.

The CEO shall be authorised to make such minor amendments to the above resolution that may prove necessary in connection with the registration with the Swedish Companies Registration Office.

A resolution in accordance with the Board of Directors’ proposal shall only be valid where supported by not less than two-thirds of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the Meeting.

Proposal to authorise the Board of Directors to resolve to repurchase and transfer own shares (item 16)

The Board of Directors proposes that the Annual General Meeting resolves to authorise the Board of Directors to resolve on the acquisition and sale of the company’s own shares, where the following shall apply;

  1. Acquisition and sale of own shares shall exclusively take place on Nasdaq Stockholm.
  2. The authorisation may be utilised on one or several occasions until the 2019 Annual General Meeting.
  3. Shares may be acquired to the extent that the company’s holding of its own shares, on any occasion, does not exceed ten (10) per cent of the company’s total shares. Sale may be carried out of not more than the number of shares acquired under this authorisation.
  4. Acquisition and sale of shares may only take place at a price within the price interval, on any occasion, recorded on Nasdaq Stockholm, which refers to the interval between the highest buying price and the lowest selling price.

The purpose of the proposed authorisation is to provide flexibility as regards the company’s possibilities to distribute capital to its shareholders and to promote more efficient capital usage in the company, which altogether is deemed to have a positive impact on the company’s share price and thereby contribute to an increased shareholder value.

A resolution in accordance with the Board of Directors’ proposal shall only be valid where supported by not less than two-thirds of both the votes cast and the shares represented at the Meeting.

It was noted that documentation pursuant to Chapter 19, Section 22 of the Swedish Companies Act will be held available on the company’s web page.

Proposal to resolve on principles for appointing the Nomination Committee (item 17)

The Nomination Committee, consisting of the chairman of the Nomination Committee Per Åhlgren (appointed by GoMobile Nu AB), Gudmundur Palmason, Ingvi Tomasson as well as Bertil Villard in his capacity as the Chairman of the Board of Strax, proposes that the following shall apply until a general meeting resolves otherwise.

The company shall have a Nomination Committee consisting of one member appointed by each of the three shareholders or groups of shareholders controlling the largest number of votes, in addition to the Chairman of the Board. The Nomination Committee shall be constituted based upon statistics of ownership from the shareholders’ register kept by Euroclear Sweden AB as per the last banking day in August each year and other reliable ownership information that has been provided to the company at that time. The Nomination Committee shall remain in office until a new Nomination Committee has been appointed. The Nomination Committee and its Chairman should fulfil the criteria regarding independence set out in the applicable corporate governance code. The Nomination Committee shall prepare proposals regarding the election of Chairman of General Meetings, the election of and remuneration to the Chairman of the Board and other Board members, as well as the auditors, and regarding provisions concerning the Nomination Committee. No fees shall be paid for the Nomination Committees work.

Proposal to adopt a long-term incentive program and issue of warrants (item 18)

The Board of Directors proposes that the general meeting resolves on a new warrant program and issuance of warrants (the “Warrant Program”).

Background and motive

The Board of Directors considers it to be in the interest of the company and the shareholders that the executive management and other employees of the Strax group are made part of the company’s development by being offered warrants in a new warrant program. The reasons for the proposal are to create opportunity to retain and attract qualified personnel to the group and to increase motivation for the executive management and other employees of the company by being involved in and working for a positive value increase on the company’s share during the period covered by the Warrant Program.

Given the terms and conditions, size of allotment and other circumstances, the Board of Directors consider the Warrant Program, in accordance with the below, to be reasonable and advantageous for the company and its shareholders.

Allotment, transfer and regarding the terms and conditions for the warrants

In total, no more than 1,000,000 warrants is proposed to be issued through the Warrant Program for the executive management and other employees in accordance with the below. Entitled to subscribe for warrants is the wholly owned subsidiary Novestra Financial Services AB, which will transfer the warrants to employees in the group. The warrants shall be issued free of charge to Novestra Financial Services AB.

Transfer of warrants to participants shall be made at a price corresponding to the market value of the warrant (i.e. the warrant premium) determined using the Black & Scholes-formulae. The valuation of the warrants shall be made by an independent financial adviser or accounting firm. Transfer of warrants to participants in the Warrant Program shall be made in accordance with the allocation below.

Category Total maximum warrants No. of persons in the   category
1 – Executive management   (excluding the CEO) 600,000 (whereby no single   individual may receive more than 175,000) Five persons
2 – Other employees 400,000 (whereby no single   individual may receive more than 30,000) Thirty persons

Warrants may also be offered to future employees. For such acquisitions, the conditions shall be the same or equivalent to what is stated in this resolution. This means that acquisitions shall be made to the market value at the time of the acquisition. Not more than a total of 1,000,000 warrants may be allotted within the Warrant Program.

Each warrant entitles to subscription of one share in Strax during the period from and including 1 September 2021 up to and including 30 November 2021, to an exercise price corresponding to 130 per cent of the average volume weighted Strax share price as quoted on Nasdaq Stockholm’s official price list during the period 10 trading days calculated from the general meeting that resolves on the Warrant Program and onwards. The calculated exercise price shall be rounded off to nearest even tenth of a krona, whereupon 0.05 krona will be rounded up.

The exercise price and number of shares that each warrant entitles to subscribe for shall be recalculated in the event of a share split, share consolidation, new issue, etc. in accordance with customary conversion conditions. The warrants may, in accordance with customary terms and conditions, be exercised prior to the exercise period in the event of, for example, compulsory acquisition of shares, liquidation or merger whereupon Strax will merge into another company.

Right to hold and exercise the warrants assumes that the holder is employed in the Strax group up until the moment when the warrants may be exercised. In connection with the transfer of warrants to the participants, Novestra Financial Services AB will reserve the right to buy back warrants if the participant’s employment or assignment in the group ends or if the participant wants to reassign the warrants.

Regarding employees resident outside of Sweden, participation requires that transfer of warrants is legal, and that the Board of Directors, in its sole discretion, consider it to be possible within reasonable administrative and economic efforts.

Dilution effect, costs, etc.

The Board of Directors’ proposal to resolve on issuance of warrants entails a dilution effect corresponding to a maximum of approximately 0.8 per cent of the shares and votes in the company if the proposed warrants are exercised in full. For information regarding the company’s existing incentive programs, please refer to the company’s annual report for 2017 and the company’s website (www.strax.com). The Warrant Program is expected to have a marginal effect on the Strax group’s key ratios.

The subscription price at the transfer of warrants will correspond to the market value of the warrants, why no costs pertaining to employees or social costs will arise for the company in connection with the issue. It is estimated that the total cost for the Warrant Program will not exceed SEK 100,000 for the duration of the Warrant Program.

The market value of the warrants, according to a preliminary valuation based on the market value of the underlying share of SEK 5.45, is SEK 0.46 per warrant, assuming a strike price of SEK 6.89 per share. The Black & Scholes-formulae has been used for the valuation, assuming a volatility of 25 per cent.

Preparation of the proposal

The proposal has been prepared of the Board of Directors and the Board of Directors will execute the resolution above to issue warrants.

Majority requirements

The resolution in this proposal requires the support of shareholders representing not less than nine tenths (9/10) of votes cast as well as shares represented at the general meeting.

____________________

The annual report, the auditor’s report as well as the complete proposal regarding item 18, together with a statement from the auditor pursuant to Chapter 8, Section 54, of the Swedish Companies Act and Chapter 19, Section 22 of the Swedish Companies Act will, as from 3 May 2018, be held available at the company’s office, Mäster Samuelsgatan 10, SE-111 44, Stockholm, Sweden, and will upon request be sent to shareholders who supply their postal address. The material will then also be held available on the company’s website (www.strax.com). The other complete proposals are presented under the relevant item in the notice.

____________________

Stockholm in April 2018


Strax AB (publ)

The Board of Directors

STRAX: YEAR-END REPORT FOR THE FINANCIAL YEAR 2017

In 2017 STRAX, the mobile accessory specialist, delivered a record Q4 leading to its fourth consecutive year of double-digit sales growth and improved gross margin.
  • The Group’s sales for the period January 1 – December 31, 2017, amounted to MEUR 100.6 (91.8), gross margin amounted to 28.5 (28.0) percent.
  • The Group’s result for the period January 1 – December 31, 2017, amounted to MEUR 2.8 (3.2) corresponding to EUR 0.03 (0.03) per share. Equity as at December 31, 2017 amounted to MEUR 22.1 (18.2) corresponding to EUR 0.19 (0.15) per share.
  • Adjusted EBITDA for 2017 amounted to MEUR 10.2 (7.8) an increase of 27% to be compared with a sales growth of 10% for the same period. The scalable growth model shows greater increase in profitability in relation to growth of revenues.

  • STRAX brand Gear4 became the largest mobile accessory case brand in the UK, with a market share of 18.5%, according to GfK.
  • STRAX brand Gear4 won T3 accessory of the year award with its Piccadilly mobile accessory case.
  • The US became STRAX’ largest market, where the proposition is purely based on the house of brands positioning. All of STRAX proprietary and licensed brands are now sold in the US, which is the single largest accessory market in the world.

    ”We finished the year with a record quarter and enter 2018 with good momentum in all our key markets. I am furthermore pleased with STRAX´ positioning heading into a new year; we have a great team, sound strategy and operational platform, broad and geographically diverse customer base, and relevant portfolio of brands in a growing global industry. I remain optimistic and expect exciting times ahead for STRAX and our shareholders”.
    Gudmundur Palmason, CEO. 

    For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, Strax AB, +46 8 545 01750 

This information is information that Strax AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation and the Securities Markets Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 20:30 CET on February 27, 2018.

STRAX: STRAX AWARDED MOBILE ACCESSORY CONTRACT WITH VODAFONE UK

Vodafone UK has awarded STRAX the contract to become its sole provider of mobile accessories across all retail channels.

STRAX, a leading global specialist in mobile accessories, will manage and supply products to all of Vodafone UK’s 450 retail stores, enterprise business units and online channels from
1st March 2018.

This partnership will see STRAX deliver a full category vendor managed availability (VMA) solution to each Vodafone UK sales channel, and will include Vodafone branded accessories as well as a selection from the STRAX portfolio of leading proprietary, partner and licensed brands. Under the terms of this VMA arrangement STRAX will undertake responsibility for all product assortment, collaborative planning forecasting and replenishment (CPFR), promotions/marketing, provide a dedicated team of expertise in Vodafone UK Newbury HQ and importantly ownership of the up/downstream channel inventory until sold to the end consumer.

The new agreement with Vodafone UK further establishes STRAX as one of the leading suppliers in the UK accessories market. Recent data indicates the accessories market in UK alone generates in excess of EUR 620 million of annual retail sales, which makes it one of the most important markets in Europe.

” When we announced the partnership agreement to supply Vodafone branded accessories in late 2016 I expressed high hopes we could expand our relationship and service offering with key Vodafone operating companies. Having successfully launched Vodafone branded accessories into several markets in 2017, it is with great pride we start 2018 with this new agreement with Vodafone UK. Winning this contract provides STRAX with a fantastic opportunity to grow both ours and Vodafone’s share of the buoyant UK accessories market” says Gudmundur Palmason, CEO STRAX.

For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, Strax AB, +46 8 545 01750

About Vodafone UK 

Vodafone Group is one of the world’s largest telecommunications companies and provides a range of services including voice, messaging, data and fixed communications. Vodafone Group has mobile operations in 26 countries, partners with mobile networks in 49 more, and fixed broadband operations in 19 markets. As of 30 September 2017, Vodafone Group had 522.8 million mobile customers and 18.8 million fixed broadband customers, including India and all of the customers in Vodafone’s joint ventures and associates. For more information, please visit: www.vodafone.com 

Vodafone UK partners with businesses of all sizes – from start-ups and small businesses to the largest corporates and the public sector. The company has worked with UK businesses for over 30 years, starting out as a mobile provider and becoming one of the UK’s leading total communications partners. It provides a range of voice and data services, secure communications infrastructure, fixed and call centre capability, and unified communications, and was the first mobile phone operator to offer a truly converged service for fixed and mobile.

About STRAX
STRAX is a global company specializing in mobile accessories and connected devices. STRAX is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange. STRAX offers proprietary, licensed,partner branded accessories and connected devices. The proprietary brands include XQISIT, GEAR4, Urbanista, THOR, AVO+ and FLAVR. The company furthermore represents over 30 brands. The company sells to a wide channel landscape ranging from telecom operators, specialized mobile and consumer electronics retailers to online, lifestyle, convenience stores and supermarkets. STRAX was founded in Miami and Hong Kong in 1995 and has since grown significantly across the globe. STRAX has 200 employees in 12 countries and its operational HQ and logistics center is based in Germany.

This information is information that Strax AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, 12:55 CET on January 26 2018.

STRAX: CHANGE IN THE NUMBER OF SHARES AND VOTES IN STRAX

The number of shares and votes in Strax AB (publ) (“STRAX” or the “Company”) has changed in December 2017 as a result of the issue against set off of claims previously announced. The total number of shares in STRAX has increased by 2,830,066 shares, corresponding to 2,830,066 votes.

Today, the last trading day of the month, there are in total 120,592,332 shares and votes in STRAX.

For further information please contact Gudmundur Palmason, CEO, Strax AB, +46 8 545 01750


About STRAX
STRAX is a global company specializing in mobile accessories and connected devices. STRAX is listed on the Nasdaq Stockholm Stock Exchange. STRAX offers proprietary, licensed,partner branded accessories and connected devices. The proprietary brands include XQISIT, GEAR4, Urbanista, THOR, AVO+ and FLAVR. The company furthermore represents over 30 brands. The company sells to a wide channel landscape ranging from telecom operators, specialized mobile and consumer electronics retailers to online, lifestyle, convenience stores and supermarkets. STRAX was founded in Miami and Hong Kong in 1995 and has since grown significantly across the globe. STRAX has 200 employees in 12 countries and its operational HQ and logistics center is based in Germany.

This information is information that Strax AB is obliged to make public pursuant to the Swedish Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above at 08:00 CET on December 29 2017.