The Impact of Foreign Exchange Risk Management on the Competitiveness of Finnish Import Businesses
Soe, Thura Nay (2026)
2026
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Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202604166624
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-202604166624
Tiivistelmä
Finnish import dependent businesses face foreign exchange risk that can affect import costs, profit margins, and pricing stability. This became especially important during 2020 to 2024, when exchange rate volatility and inflation created pressure on business performance and competitiveness. The purpose of this thesis is to examine whether foreign exchange risk management is associated with the competitiveness of Finnish import dependent businesses.
The study is based on financial risk management theory, exchange rate pass through theory, and transaction cost economics. The key concepts are transaction risk, economic risk, natural hedging, foreign exchange forwards, foreign exchange options, and competitiveness. A multiple case, primarily quantitative research design was used. Secondary data and annual report disclosures were collected for three Finnish listed retailers: Tokmanni Group, Verkkokauppa.com, and Musti Group.
The findings show that Tokmanni demonstrated the strongest overall stability and the most systematic use of derivative hedging. Verkkokauppa.com showed weaker stability and relied mainly on natural or commercial hedging, while Musti showed mixed results with natural hedging and foreign exchange forwards. Overall, the findings suggest that more systematic derivative hedging is associated with stronger stability, although the results are correlational rather than causal.
The study is based on financial risk management theory, exchange rate pass through theory, and transaction cost economics. The key concepts are transaction risk, economic risk, natural hedging, foreign exchange forwards, foreign exchange options, and competitiveness. A multiple case, primarily quantitative research design was used. Secondary data and annual report disclosures were collected for three Finnish listed retailers: Tokmanni Group, Verkkokauppa.com, and Musti Group.
The findings show that Tokmanni demonstrated the strongest overall stability and the most systematic use of derivative hedging. Verkkokauppa.com showed weaker stability and relied mainly on natural or commercial hedging, while Musti showed mixed results with natural hedging and foreign exchange forwards. Overall, the findings suggest that more systematic derivative hedging is associated with stronger stability, although the results are correlational rather than causal.