Sales And Profits Up For JB Hi-Fi
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JB Hi-Fi Limited has reported a record half yearly net profit of $76 million from $1.554 billion in sales for the six months ending 31 December 2009. The company has also reported that its dividend has increased 120 per cent to 33 cents per share.The company has also reported a comparable store sales growth of 10.2 per cent for the period in Australia, while gross margins remained stable despite competitor discounting and the strong performance of low margin categories.

In addition, the company’s cost of doing business was down 39 basis points to 13.2 per cent. EBIT margin increased 10 basis points to 7.2 per cent, while cashflow from Operations was strong at $168.4 million for the half year.

The company has raised the dividend declaring a fully franked dividend of 33.0 cents per share, an increase of 120 per cent (HY09 was at 15 cents).

Sales in December were solid across all categories, with comparable store sales of 6.5 per cent.

 

JB Hi-Fi’s CEO, Richard Uechtritz said, “We are once again extremely pleased with this strong result, particularly in the comparable store sales growth of 6.5 per cent in December, when compared to the prior corresponding period, which was impacted by the government’s stimulus package.”

“JB has proven to be very resilient throughout the economic downturn which led to low consumer confidence and spend. This performance is testament to our strong retail model and the depth and strength of our management team,” he said.

“We continue to grow our market share as recently opened stores mature, we open new stores, expand our offering, and reduce our prices on the back of increased economies of scale and a continued focus on costs,” added Uechtritz.

The company has opened 15 new stores in the half and is expecting to open 7 more in the second half of FY10, bringing the number of new stores to 22, which “will be the largest number it has opened in any year since formation,” says the company.

Finally, the company said that sales in January have met internal expectations with comparable store sales at 7.2 per cent.

“Whist the retail outlook continues to be uncertain, the company is cautiously optimistic that it will have another strong year. JB confirms its previous guidance that sales will be circa $2.8 billion or a 20 percent increase on the prior financial year, and expects Net Profit after Tax to be in the range of $117 million to $120 million or a 24 percent to 27 increase on the prior year.