Ireland trial for Smiggle Stationery retailer shores up half-year result for Premier Investments

PREMIER Investments will test star stationery brand Smiggle in Ireland before launching a wider assault on the eurozone market.

Premier, backed by retail billionaire Solomon Lew, will open up to five stores housing pester-powered Smiggle in Ireland before Christmas.

The retail group has signed leases for two sites and is in ne- gotiations over another two to three sites.

The move into Ireland follows Premier taking Smiggle into the UK in early 2014 where it plans to open another 30 to 40 stores by the end of the year.

Premier chief Mark McInnes said Ireland could host between 15 to 20 stores, adding Irish customers were already big buyers of the stationery brand through the UK website.

“This is a great learning ex- ercise for us to serve as a springboard into other European countries,” Mr McInnes said. “We’ve got excellent locations – we will learn from trading in that currency (euro) and within those regulations and that will go into our decision making … on the next country we go into.”

A surge in Smiggle sales helped Premier hold its ground in a tough retail environment which put its traditional fashion brands under pressure, a profit update yesterday showed. The group, which also owns Peter Alexander, Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Portmans, Jacquie-E and Dotti, reported a net profit of $71.9 million for the six months to January 28.

The result was up a flat 0.5 per cent from $71.5 million in the prior period but delivered amid a gloomy retail backdrop where thousands of jobs have been lost following numerous high-profile collapses. Premier also absorbed $3 million in legal costs from its failed court action against former chief financial officer Nicole Peck in an attempt to stop her from moving to rival Cotton On.

Underlying net profit, which strips out one-offs, rose 9.7 per cent to $100.6 million.

Total sales rose 7.1 per cent to a record $588.6 million during the half. Smiggle led the way with sales up 26 per cent to $134.7 million as 26 new stores were opened in the UK.

Smiggle now has 272 stores in Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and the UK.

Sales at pyjama brand Peter Alexander were up 13.8 per cent to $99.4 million.

Those results helped offset a fall in sales at Jay Jays, Dotti, Jacquie-E and Portmans.

Premier has headhunted Harris Scarfe general fashion manager Nicole Naccarella and Witchery managing director Linda Levy to boost its female fashion businesses.