By Grant Shepherd
JB Hi-Fi has just released its financial expectations for the 2009 financial year and has outlined that its profit forecast for the full year is sitting at $92 million, a 41 per cent increase. As well as this sales are also predicted to rise 26 per cent up to $2.3 billion.
Richard Uechtritz, CEO, JB Hi-Fi, commented on the profit forecast which is well above what analysts were predicting.
“While the current overall retail climate is poor, this excellent result shows that we have many positives working in our favour that should continue to more than offset the effects of the weaker economy,” he said.
“We continue to grow our market share as recently opened stores mature, new stores open, we expand our offering, reduce our prices on the back of increased economies of scale and our continuing focus on costs.”
Uechtritz further expressed how the brand is excelling compared to its rivals.
“This expected profit result again highlights the continued strength and resilience of the JB retail model and our positioning in the market. Compared to a general softness in the more traditional categories of the discretionary retail spending in the economy over the past year, our experience particularly in the field of home entertainment has been very positive,” he said.
Uechtritz also outlined the company’s plans for store development.
“Based on our experience of opening about 15 new stores per year, our target of 210 stores from the 105 stores we have now means the company has many years of good sales and earnings growth to look forward to,” he said.