JB Hi-Fi NZ sales edge up despite market-wide tablet sales decline
JB Hi-Fi has reported a slight sales growth of 0.9% to $211.4 million across New Zealand during the 2014 financial year, with comparable sales up 0.8%.
Revealed via the Australian Stock Exchange, the consumer electronics chain revealed a total sales rise of 5.3% across the Australia and New Zealand region, amounting to A$3.48 billion.
Across the Tasman sales grew by 4.8% to A$3.29 billion, with comparable sales up 1.3% as overall the company reported a net prefect after tax of A$128.4m for the year ending June 30.
“This was a solid result for the company with net profit after tax up 10.3%, EPS up 9.1%, an increased dividend of 84 cents per share, up 16.% on the prior year, and strong sales growth in the first three quarters of FY14,” says Richard Murray, CEO, JB Hi-Fi.
“Sales in the last quarter were impacted primarily by the market-wide decline in tablet sales and weaker consumer sentiment since May.
“Improved gross margins, ongoing cost control and our continued emphasis on customer, all contributed to the overall result.”
According to the figures, the company has 13 stores across New Zealand, making up a total of 182 stores with the business expecting to open a total of eight new stores during FY15 in a bid to maintain its stated target of 214 stores across ANZ.
Online sales continue to grow also, up 13.9% in FY14, representing approximately 2.2% of total sales as unique visitors to the website increased by 9.9% over the previous 12 months to an average of 1.3 million per week.
