Harvey Norman Profit Drops 29.6 Percent
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Consumer Electronics retailer Harvey Norman who are now under pressure from both Dick Smith, JB Hi Fi and current market conditions has reported a 29 percent fall in first-half profits which fell from $174.14 million for the same period last year to A$123.5 million at December 2008.

Despite the bad numbers, Chairman Gerry Harvey is bullish and sees only better things ahead for the company. “Trading conditions remain challenging, but our core segments are resilient and our brands are growing market share in all key product categories,” he said in a statement. He did admit to his Irish operations struggling. “Trading conditions in Ireland remain extremely difficult. We have taken an impairment charge of $17 million against the written down value of our plant and equipment in Ireland.”

The franchising operations segment results were down from $171.24 million in HY2008 to $149.42 million HY2009 a drop of 12.7 percent.

Sales from the company were up slightly from $764.67 million to $770.35 million, while its EBIT was almost halved to $181.6 million in HY2009 compared to $344.28 million in HY2008.