Retail giant reveals record first-half results despite arrival of Amazon Australia late last year

IT was predicted to “kill retail” — but Amazon has not yet managed to steal customers away from electronics giant JB Hi-Fi.

THE launch of Amazon Australia has failed to entice shoppers away from electronics and entertainment juggernaut JB Hi-Fi.

CEO Richard Murray remained optimistic when asked about Amazon’s impact during the 2018 Half Year Investor Conference this morning.

“Obviously we are happy to welcome all new competitors to the market and we believe we can compete effectively,” Mr Murray said.

“We are really stoked with both JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys and how they are evolving in the retail market.

“JB Hi-Fi is a globally unique business model and … both JB Hi-Fi and the Good Guys are in a unique position with customers.”

Mr Murray said while the company would consider new opportunities that might become available, it was not planning a significant expansion of physical stores.

He said JB Hi-Fi had a “pretty solid number of stores” already, and that the focus with The Good Guys was on “current stores and making sure they are firing before thinking too hard about aggressive store roll outs”.

He said the small electrical category had performed particularly well over the Christmas period and that after introducing same-day delivery late last year, the company would now be focused on ensuring its online offer was “as seamless as possible” for customers.

Earlier today JB Hi-Fi revealed it had lifted its first-half profit 37.4 per cent to $151.7 million after a healthy Christmas sales performance across its expanded store network.

The home electronics and entertainment retailer said sales revenue for the six months to December 31 surged 41 per cent to $3.69 billion, reflecting the November 2016 acquisition of rival The Good Guys.

Chief executive Richard Murray said he was pleased with the performance and flagged an expected full-year profit of between $235 million and $240 million — compared to $172.4 million in 2017.

“It was another strong result for the JB Hi-Fi business in Australia, particularly through the important November and December periods,” Mr Murray said.

“We are pleased with the progress we have made at The Good Guys and are confident about the future opportunities for the group.”

Seven new JB Hi-Fi stores opened in Australia during the period and one closed in New Zealand, while two new The Good Guys stores were opened.

Sales at JB Hi-Fi’s Australian stores grew 10.8 per cent to $2.48 billion — up by 7.8 per cent on a comparable sales basis — driven by growth in communications, computers, audio, drones and games hardware.

Sales dipped 0.4 per cent in New Zealand but rose 2.4 per cent at The Good Guys, which contributed to a full first-half result for the first time.

The company lifted its interim dividend 14 cents to 86 cents, fully franked.

JB HI-FI’S RECORD FIRST-HALF:

*Net profit up 37.4 per cent to $151.7 million

*Revenue up 41 per cent to $3.69 billion

*Interim dividend up 14 cents to 86 cents, fully franked

— with AAP copy

Originally published as Retail giant reveals record first-half results despite arrival of Amazon Australia late last year