Harvey Norman has reported average sale results for the nine months ended 31 March 2011.

The sales from the franchised complexes, commercial divisions and other sales outlets in Australia, New Zealand, Slovenia, Ireland and Northern Ireland totalled $4.7 billion for the period – a 1.4 per cent increase in total sales but a 3.5 per cent decrease in like-for-like sales.

Harvey Norman chief financial officer Chris Mentis said furniture and bedding franchisees continue to grow revenue and market share despite the industry experiencing a slow down with the dampened housing market.

“The Harvey Norman and Domayne brands continue to lead in these categories illustrating the strength and resilience of the model,” he said. 
He also noted that electrical franchisees continue to operate in an “extremely difficult” environment.

“Whilst electrical franchisees’ share of the value of the television market remains strong, price deflation has affected revenues in the TV category. Despite tough trading conditions, the franchisees continued focus on white goods, cooking, home appliances and floor care has resulted in significant unit revenue and market share growth in these categories,” Mentis said.

Computer franchisee sales continue to be impacted by a very competitive market driven by a cautious consumer.

Also, significant price deflation exacerbated by the strong Australian dollar was experienced in the key laptop computer category. But positive contributions from the gaming console, digital SLR camera and smart phone categories, combined with the expected growth in the tablet computer categories, have the franchisee well positioned to maximise the technology product opportunities throughout 2011.

Global sales were negatively affected by a 3.3 per cent deterioration in the NZ$, a 14.4 per cent deterioration in the Euro and a 10.3 per cent deterioration in the UK Pound.

This saw like-for-like sales in Australia were down 2.6 per cent in the year to 31 March 2011. While like-for-like sales were down in both New Zealand by 4.6 per cent and the Republic of Ireland by 1.4 per cent.