Briscoe Group to return wage subsidy
AUCKLAND: Briscoe Group will pay back the wage subsidy it received following the $27.9 million profit it turned in the firsthalf of its 2020 financial year.
The homeware and sporting goods company said it had made the decision after experiencing continued strong sales during the third quarter.
It received $11.5 million in government wage subsidies across its businesses. This included $6,476,001.60 for 1073 staff in its Briscoes business and $866,011.20 for 124 head office staff.
Chairwoman Dame Rosanne Meo said the group’s continued sales momentum was a credit to ‘‘the team led by Rod Duke’’.
Mr Duke is the company’s largest shareholder, holding a 78%, stake and received $15.6 million of the $20.3 million interim dividend the group paid out in its first half of FY20.
‘‘The energy and success of the team in continuing with new developments and initiatives during this extraordinary period has far exceeded the board’s expectations,’’ Dame Rosanne said in the NZX statement.
‘‘The full extent of the lockdown was seen in our firstquarter sales announced 1 May, which were down 35.6%. The rebound over the following three months, however, was equally as remarkable, enabling Briscoe Group to report a halfyear result that was broadly in line with our previous year.’’
The group’s net profit in the six months to July 26 was barely dented by disruption caused by the Covid19 pandemic, and it paid out a 9centspershare dividend to shareholders — an increase on last year’s 8.5c.
Its almost $28 million profit was down a mere 1.3% on the same period a year earlier.
Dame Rosanne said the board had taken a ‘‘considered approach’’ over the past seven months.
It was continuing to monitor the trading environment ahead, and the group was ‘‘certainly not out of the woods’’ but in ‘‘good shape’’, she said.
‘‘Other companies have leveraged their balance sheets and, in some cases, have had to go to shareholders for more funds. We have not had to do this.
‘‘Unlike other companies Briscoe Group has not made people redundant or closed stores. We pride ourselves with having a strong balance sheet so we can continue to expand our economic footprint with new store openings which will inevitably lead to the creation of jobs.’’
Its retail staff were paid full salary during the lockdown periods.
There has been pressure on another New Zealand retailer, The Warehouse, to also pay back the wage subsidy, but that company’s chairwoman has defended its actions.
The company released its fullyear result on Thursday that included a $44.5 million profit.
The Warehouse chairwoman Joan Withers said the wage subsidy had been crucial to the group maintaining its workforce during the lockdown period, during which employees were paid their full wages.
‘‘On average the wage subsidy equated to around 55% of our normal wage and salary expense over the period to which the subsidy applied.’’
‘‘The group has been through two significant restructuring processes which were in place well before Covid19 . . . These changes, although difficult for all involved, were necessary for the group to continue to meet the needs of customers.’’
The restructures cost the company $44.2 million. — The New Zealand Herald