Despite soft sales for The Good Guys, JB Hi-Fi has reported total sales growth of 21.8% to $6.9 billion for the year ended 30 June 2018. Net profit after tax (NPAT) was up 12.3% to $233.2 million for FY18.
In May, JB Hi-Fi downgraded group profit to circa $230 million (down from its previous guidance of $235 million to $240 million) due to soft sales in The Good Guys business, attributed to unfavourable weather and heightened price competition in home appliances.
JB Hi-Fi Group CEO, Richard Murray said, “We are pleased to have delivered another year of record sales and earnings. It was another strong result for the JB Hi-Fi business in Australia and whilst it was a challenging second half for The Good Guys business, we made strong progress towards our key initiatives as we position the business for future growth.”
For JB Hi-Fi Australia, total sales grew 9.4% to $4.54 billion with comparable sales up 6.2%. Key growth categories were communications, computers, audio, games hardware and drones. Online sales grew 32.1% to $209.9 million (4.6% of total sales). Eight new stores were opened in FY18.
For JB Hi-Fi New Zealand, total sales were down 1.1% to NZD231.5 million with comparable sales up 2.4%. Following the relaunch of its website in August 2017, online sales in New Zealand grew 96.3% to NZD9.6 million (4.1% of total sales).
Following the exit of JB Hi-Fi Home in New Zealand, four stores were rebranded to JB Hi-Fi in FY18 as the business continues to be repositioned to improve performance. One JB Hi-Fi store was closed in August 2017 and another loss making store was closed in July 2018.
Total sales for The Good Guys was $2.10 billion with full year ownership in FY18. Sales on a statutory basis were up 67% and for comparative purposes, for the same 12 months, total sales were up 1.5% with comparable sales up 0.9%.
The home appliances and consumer electronics categories recorded sales growth. Online sales for the period were up 7.4% to $126.8 million (6% of total sales). Two new stores were opened in Robina and Tingalpa, QLD. One store was closed in Rockdale, NSW.
“We continued to take a considered and deliberate approach to change at The Good Guys,” Richard Murray said. “Despite the challenging conditions in the home appliances market in the second half, we remained focused on sales and market share.”
Trading outlook
Total group sales for FY19 are expected to be circa $7.1 billion, comprising JB Hi-Fi Australia ($4.75 billion), JB Hi-Fi New Zealand ($0.22 billion) and The Good Guys ($2.15 billion).
In FY19, the company expects to open five JB Hi-Fi Australia stores, two The Good Guys stores and close one JB Hi-Fi New Zealand store.
This article originally appeared in Appliance Retailer.