Hallenstein Glasson has warned shareholders both sales and profit will be down in the six months to February 1.
In a trading update, Stuart Duncan, group CEO, said trade in a number of its stores continued to be disrupted by Covid-19, resulting in 5432 lost trading days. Online sales – which now account for 33 per cent of group turnover – made up for some of that impact.
In New Zealand, all 42 Hallenstein Brothers stores and 36 Glassons stores were closed from August 18 to September 7, with Auckland stores remaining closed until November 9. Hamilton and Whangarei stores were also further impacted after the initial lockdown.
All 12 Glassons Victoria stores and 14 NSW stores were closed from the start of the financial year until they reopened in October. The seven Glassons stores and four Hallenstein Brothers stores in Queensland were also closed for the first week of the financial year.
As a result, total group sales for the six‐months February were NZ$170.6 million, a decrease of 6.2 per cent year on year. Unaudited post-tax profit is expected to be in the range of $11.1 million to $12.1 million, compared with $19.8 million a year earlier.
All stores in both countries are now trading again.
Duncan said the group has entered negotiations for rent relief support from landlords where stores were unable to trade due to the lockdowns. Some of these negotiations have been resolved, but others are ongoing.
Duncan said the group’s balance sheet remains strong and stock levels are being controlled well.
Final audited results will be released on March 25.
