Harvey Norman Sales Wobbly Say Competitors
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Consumer electronics retailer Harvey Norman has seen same store sales rise only 2.4 per cent for the first four months of 2008. In the same period last year they sales had risen 7.9 per cent according to their latest financial results.


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Investors are not impressed with Harvey Norman shares falling 47 per cent in 2008.
In comparison arch rival JB Hi Fi who recently re branded their Digital Home online acquisition as JB Hi Fi Digital Home has seen their shares jump as much as 9.2 per cent with the Company saying that they anticipated earnings being towards the top end of its guidance.

Commenting on the Harvey Norman results Richard Uechtritz JB Hi Fi CEO said “The results are not bad in the current marketplace. We are in much better shape with more upside which is primarily because we are focused on consumer entertainment”.

Total sales for the four months to April 30 rose 6.4 per cent as consumers eased back on big-ticket purchases.

Goldman Sachs JB Were had forecast like-for-like sales growth of 4.0 per cent and ABN AMRO forecast 2.1 per cent.

 

Sales included Harvey Norman’s franchised stores in Australia, New Zealand, Slovenia and Ireland. It has about 190 stores in Australia.
The company reported a four-month period to smooth the timing shift of Easter this year from April to March.

For the 10 months to April 30, total sales rose 10.1 per cent and same-store sales rose 5.2 percent.

Retailers’ shares have come under heavy selling pressure this year as economists forecast a slowdown in spending, and government figures for March showed an across-the-board softening in consumption.