No profit but no job losses: Briscoes boss

Briscoes and Rebel Sport had no sales, but also no job losses during the coronavirus level 4 lockdown, Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke said yesterday.

An upbeat Duke told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting that after the seven-week shutdown that affected the business in every way possible, the move to level 2 was very welcome.

‘‘No sales, no profit, no 30 per cent off promotion, but I guess more importantly no staff with coronavirus and no redundancies at Briscoe Group,’’ Duke said.

The company received the Government’s wage subsidy, but had committed to paying staff 100 per cent of their wage.

Duke was taking no salary for three months, and board directors had taken a cut in fees. Duke, who owns 77 per cent of the retail giant that includes Briscoes, Rebel Sport and Living and Giving, was paid

$978,000 last year.

‘‘Despite the pandemic and subsequent lockdown which saw our stores closed for around seven weeks, I believe we’ve come out of it with a great deal of confidence in the future of retailing, and in particular the future of our two major retail brands,’’ he said.

The company ended the financial year, just before the pandemic hit, with

$67.4 million in cash, and it would continue to improve its Briscoes and Rebel Sport stores. Sales revenue for the year ended January 2020 hit a record $653 million, up

3.3 per cent on a year earlier. Record net profit after tax of $65 million was reduced to

$62.2 million after the impact of a new accounting standard for leases, NZIRF16.

‘‘Our cautious approach to financial management with a focus on sales and profit growth meant we were well placed to weather the storm,’’ he said.

The company had already been investing in online retailing, including adding extra fulfilment stores, and online had grown to represent more than 11 per cent of sales. That growth had to continue, Duke said. ‘‘Covid-19 has had an immeasurable impact on all of us.

‘‘For business, and retail in particular, it has forced all of us to commit to and execute digital transformation much faster than we might have planned. I read somewhere recently that ‘we’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two weeks’.’’

The company had also opened and refurbished Briscoe and Rebel Sport stores last year, and there were now 47 Briscoes Homeware and 40 Rebel Sport stores including 24 fulfilment hubs.