Briscoe reveals sales gains

AUCKLAND: Briscoe Group lifted firsthalf sales 4.3% and will report a slightly higher profit on wider margins next month, shrugging off a growing number of hurdles facing the retail sector.

Sales rose to $292.2 million in the six months ended July 29 from $280.3 million a year earlier, the Aucklandbased retailer said in a statement. Of that, homeware sales rose 4.5% and its Rebel Sport chain revenue gained 3.8%, while online sales accounted for 9% of group sales.

Managing director Rod Duke, who owns more than threequarters of the company, said gross margin was higher than the 41.03% reported a year earlier, and profit was ‘‘marginally ahead’’ of the $28.6 million last year. The bottom line will take an extra hit from a higher tax bill because a dividend from its 19.9% stake in Kathmandu Holdings was not imputed for New Zealand investors.

Mr Duke said in a statement that profit continued to track marginally ahead of last year and this would be reflected in an increased halfyear profit announcement expected on September 20.

Government figures showed flat retail sales in the March quarter due largely to a reduction in clothing and footwear, although more recent surveys of credit and debit card transactions showed a pick up in June. Consumer confidence surveys have dropped back to their longrun average after an extended period of optimism and have not captured the impacts of a regional fuel tax in Auckland or the government’s targeted assistance programmes.

Other retailers such as Warehouse have struggled to compete with the emergence of cheaper international goods sourced from overseas, but plans to enforce GST on lowvalue goods from next year is seen as supporting the local sector, and the recent hike in the minimum wage will fall largely on the retail and hospitality industries, which tend to have lower wages than other sectors.

Briscoe shares gained 0.3% to $3.56 and have increased 2.9% so far this year. It is the biggest listed retailer on the NZX. — BusinessDesk