Second-half sales were up 6.6 percent on a year earlier, after a period hit by Covid-19 related lockdowns. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
Clothing retailer Hallenstein Glasson has seen a 23 percent drop in full-year profit, while sales are little changed from the year earlier.
Key numbers for the 12 months ended 1 August compared to a year ago:
- Net profit $25.6m vs $33.3m
- Revenue $351.2m vs $350.8m
- Gross margin 57.6 vs 57.4%
- Full year dividend 42 cents a share
The company said the first six months of sales were adversely impacted by the numerous lockdowns in both New Zealand and Australia, with stores closed and 5432 trading days lost.
Second-half sales were up 6.6 percent on the year earlier, as all stores remained open throughout the season.
"During this period the business was faced with a difficult trading environment with the Omicron surges impacting on staffing and customers' shopping habits, particularly in the New Zealand market," it said.
However, sales further improved in the first eight weeks of the new financial year by more than 68 percent on 2022.
The company said the dividend payment was able to be maintained as the company's balance sheet continued to be strong with well controlled inventories.
"The group is looking forward to a year of comparably minimal Covid interruptions and refocusing on its key strategies of quality on‐trend product, speed to market, customer service and investment in digital," it said.
However, there remained margin pressure caused by the USD exchange rate and the higher than normal freight costs.
It said operating costs were also up due to ongoing inflationary pressure.
The company expected to make a further update at the annual shareholders' meeting in December.