Warehouse Group posts $55m half year profit

The Warehouse Group has reported a sharp rise in its half year profit on the back of higher sales and bigger margins.

The country's biggest retailer's net profit for the six months to January was $55 million, up 88 percent on the year before, which included the repayment of more than $67m of wage subsidies and restructuring costs.

Excluding the one-off costs its profit nearly tripled over the period to $111m.

Despite the interruptions caused by last year's lockdown in August, the company's revenue increased by 7 percent to $1.8 billion due to strong demand, growth in its online sales and cost cutting measures paying off.

The Warehouse Group chief executive Nick Grayston said the business had performed well, showcasing its ability to adapt amid the uncertainly brought by the pandemic.

"As a result of the hard work to execute our transformation by our whole team over the last few years, we were able to drive significant gross profit improvement and cost leverage."

The company saw strong sales growth across all its businesses, which include the big red sheds, The Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo7.

Torpedo7 and Noel Leeming were among the stand out performers, achieving sales growth of 29 percent and 15.7 percent respectively.

Online sales grew by half over the period and now made up about 12 percent of the company's total sales, as more consumers looked to shop from home during the pandemic.

The group did not provide a full year guidance but said consumer demand remained strong and stock levels and supply were under control.

"While we see isolated issues with suppliers and our supply chain around categories such as whiteware, we will continue to monitor and manage appropriately," it said.

Warehouse Group shareholders would receive an interim dividend of 13 cents per share in addition to the one-off special dividend the company's board announced following strong trading over the Christmas period.