Pandora has had to temporarily close about 25% of its physical stores since the beginning of the year because of the ongoing spread of COVID-19, the company announced on Monday.

That’s up from the 10% of its physical stores that were closed during the fourth quarter of 2020.

The closures, and general worldwide increase in COVID-19, are creating “elevated uncertainty about 2021 financial performance,” the company said in a statement.

However, Pandora noted that so far, “the negative impact on performance from COVID-19 store restrictions appears to have been offset by a non-recurring positive impact from reallocation of consumer spending away from traveling and services towards gifting and discretionary goods.”

Otherwise, the company expects to exceed its projected finance guidance—a welcome change from an organization that has sometimes annoyed analysts and even regulators by regularly falling short of prior projections.

Pandora expects to have seen 3 to 4% growth for the fourth quarter of the year. That means organic growth will probably end up down 11% for the year, an improvement from the company’s initial forecast of a 14 to 17% drop.

Pandora’s EBIT (earnings before interest and taxes) margin is expected to total around 20%, exceeding its guidance range of 17.5 to 19%.

Pandora will announce its final financial results on Feb. 4. The announcement caused shares on the Danish stock exchange to rise 6.2% to hit a 32-month high, according to Reuters.

(Photo courtesy of Pandora)

Rob Bates

JCK News Director