HEIKKI VÄÄNÄNEN APPOINTED AS DIRECTOR OF STOCKMANN’S DEPARTMENT STORE DIVISION AND THE GROUP’S EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1, 2005

STOCKMANN plc STOCK EXCHANGE RELEASE June 17, 2005, at 10.00

HEIKKI VÄÄNÄNEN APPOINTED AS DIRECTOR OF STOCKMANN’S DEPARTMENT STORE
DIVISION AND THE GROUP’S EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 1,
2005

The Stockmann Group’s Board of Directors has appointed Heikki Väänänen,
Managing Director of Stockmann’s subsidiary Seppälä Oy, as director of
Stockmann’s Department Store Division and the Group’s Executive Vice
President effective November 1, 2005. The Department Store Division’s
present director, Stockmann’s Executive Vice President, Jukka Hienonen
will take up the position as Finnair’s President and CEO.

The Stockmann Group’s Board of Directors has today, June 17, 2005,
appointed Heikki Väänänen, B.Sc. (Econ.), 46, Managing Director of
Stockmann’s subsidiary Seppälä Oy, as director of Stockmann’s Department
Store Division and the Group’s Executive Vice President effective November
1, 2005. He will also act as the alternate for the Group’s CEO Hannu
Penttilä.

Väänänen has served as Seppälä’s Managing Director and member of the
Stockmann Group’s Management Committee since 2001. During this period
Seppälä has become one of the most profitable retail companies in Europe
and internationalized successfully in the Baltic countries and in Russia.
In 2004, Seppälä’s sales amounted to EUR 143.7 million, the division’s
operating profit was EUR 17.1 million and the return on capital employed
80.8 per cent (IFRS). Seppälä’s operating profit for 2005 is expected to
improve clearly.

The present director of the Department Store Division and the Group’s
Executive Vice President, Jukka Hienonen, will enter Finnair’s employment
as from November 1, 2005 as he has been appointed the Group’s President
and CEO and the successor of Keijo Suila, President and CEO, who will
retire.

Sales by Stockmann’s Department Store Division in 2004 were EUR 938.8
million and the division’s operating profit amounted to EUR 63.7 million.
The return on capital employed was 18.9 per cent (IFRS). The division’s
operating profit for 2005 is expected to improve on the previous year.

Further information:
Hannu Penttilä, CEO, Stockmann, tel. +358-9-121 5801
Jukka Hienonen, Executive Vice President, Stockmann, tel. +358-9-121 5230
Heikki Väänänen, Managing Director, Seppälä, tel. +358-9-825 98200

STOCKMANN plc

Hannu Penttilä
CEO

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