The big result | It’s important to put the hammering JB Hi-Fi took at the hands of investors on Monday in context. This is a stock that had surged a staggering 70 per cent over the past year – in a supposed cost-of-living crisis – and had jumped 40 per cent in the last six months. It was due a bit of a breather, and the note of caution JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart’s sounded was all the spark the market needed.
Yes, the 7.2 per cent increase in same-store sales in JB Hi-Fi’s Australian division for the December half looks pretty solid. And yes, the 7.1 per cent lift in same-store sales in January was impressive. But Smart concedes things get harder from here, with the group set to cycle stronger sales periods, which will make it tougher to keep delivering those big like-for-like growth rates.
