SCALI SOUNDS SUPPLY ALARM
ANTHONY Scali, the chief executive of furniture retailer Nick Scali, has repeated his warning of major disruptions to global supply chains caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Addressing shareholders at the retailer’s annual general meeting on Monday, he also said written sales for the September quarter were down as more than half its store network was shuttered due to lockdowns across several states and New Zealand although online trading remained strong.
Mr Scali said he would be forced to authorise price rises of as much as 10 per cent as record shipping charges pushed up costs amid supply constraints due to lockdowns in Vietnam and Malaysia.
“Whilst we have a strong order bank, it is difficult to forecast sales revenue and profitability for the second quarter given the continued supply chain disruptions,” he said.
Turning to recent trading, Mr Scali said the company’s performance had improved after NSW came out of lockdown two weeks ago.
In August, Nick Scali posted a full-year net profit of $84.241m.
This easily beat guidance of $78m to $80m.