The food delivery company My Food Bag has made a record half year profit, despite the volume of sales dropping.
Photo: Facebook / My Food Bag
Key numbers (first half ended September vs year ago)
- Net profit $9.4m vs $7.6m
- Revenue $98.4m vs $105.2m
- Cost of sales $72.6m vs $80m
- Dividend 3 cents cash per share
The company's chair Tony Carter said the result demonstrates clear progress, and the achievement of some important milestones as it cements its place in the country's $37 billion retail food sector.
"While demand remained solid through the half year period, total deliveries of 808,000 and an average order value of $121.81 were lower than the same period in FY21, owing to a spike during the 2020 nationwide lockdown in the early part of the pandemic response."
The company's financial statements show the bottom line rose, as its cost of sales fell from nearly $80m to $72.6m.
The average order value declined due to more consumers opting for the company's bargain box brand, bigger bag sizes and marketing discounts.
"Pleasingly, during H1 FY22, the business increased active customer numbers by 3.3 percent, and grew high value active customers by 3.1 percent year on year," Carter said.
The figure of retained customer numbers was at 60 percent, he said.
In the past six months, the company expanded beyond meal kits, launching My Food Bag Kitchen (MFBK), which offers consumers a range of hard to find items, such as gourmet cheeses, that they can add to their orders.
"This is our first significant step outside of weeknight meals and signals our move beyond providing a solution to the original question of 'What's for dinner?' towards providing more everyday solutions for our customers for a meal occasion," My Food Bag chief executive Kevin Bowler said.
My Food Bag Kitchen is expanding the business's offerings, chief executive Kevin Bowler says. Photo: Supplied
The company reaffirmed its earnings guidance for the financial year of $34.2m, which would be an 18 percent increase on the previous year.
It expected higher average order values in the second half due to the roll out of MFBK, higher prices to offset rising input costs and seasonal impacts.
Bowler said its data demonstrates that recipe choice was driving higher active customer growth and increased order frequency.
"So, the expansion of choice is one of the underpinning factors of our confidence in H2 performance," he said.
With a strong balance sheet, the company said it was in a good position to pursue any acquisitions that arise.