Oda and Mathem both back to growth

The Nordic online grocery pure players, Oda and Mathem, seem to be changing corners regarding revenue growth. Especially Mathem has seen revenues decline since the highs of 2021.

Since Q2/2022, Mathem has grown its last twelve-month (LTM) revenues. Q4 of last year was the company’s second consecutive quarter of LTM revenue growth. Start of a new growth period?

On the other hand, Oda has grown throughout the pandemic and post-pandemic times. This is a result of the growth of the international markets. In Q4/2022, the LTM revenues of Oda were 17,2% (427 million NOK) higher than a year ago. The Finnish revenues accelerated the growth in 2022. During this year, the growth will most probably continue to accelerate as the revenues from the German operation start coming in.

A curious fact about Oda is that the company surpassed the Finnish grocery giants Kesko and S-Group last year in online revenues.

The big question for Oda is how the Norwegian market can continue to grow. It will remain the biggest part of the business for the coming years.

As the German operation grows, Oda will probably become the biggest Nordic company in online grocery revenues (despite revenues coming from outside the Nordics). ICA is the biggest online grocer in the Nordics, with 4,6 billion SEK.

Valuations continue to decline

Despite the growth, Oda has seen its valuations continue to decline. Oda’s valuation (based on Kinnevik’s reporting) stands at 2,86 billion SEK, down 60% from a year ago.

Mathem’s valuation has dropped even more significantly. Mathem’s valuation is less than one-third of Oda’s, down 64% from a year ago. With the current valuation, Mathem would be a rather sensible acquisition target for Axfood, the second biggest owner of the company.