JB Hi-Fi sales fall, but online turnover soars

(Source: Archives)

Trans-Tasman electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi has exceeded $1.1 billion in online sales revenue in the first half of the trading year.

E-commerce revenue for the group now accounts for over 22.7 per cent of total sales at $4.86 billion, down 1.6 per cent last year, but 21.7 per cent ahead of the six months to December 2019, before Covid hit.

Group CEO Terry Smart addressed the strong sales and earnings by the company for HY22 saying: “In challenging circumstances, we have again demonstrated our ability to adapt and respond to meet the strong demand from our customers, both in-store and online.

“I would like to thank over 13,000 team members who have continued to do an incredible job and worked tirelessly throughout this difficult period,” he said in a stock-exchange filing.

Preliminary calculations show earnings before income and taxes for the first half at $420.5 million for the group, a decline of 9.1 per cent from the same period last year, but 59.9 per cent higher than the same half two years earlier. 

In New Zealand, sales fell by 4.5 per cent to NZ$138.4 million but were 4.2 per cent higher than the half-year to December 2019.

The company’s The Good Guys appliance retail chain recorded a minor 0.8-per-cent decline in sales to $1.439 billion – but that was 25.4 per cent ahead of the December 2019 half.

Despite modest sales, customer demand for consumer electronics and home appliance products have increased, according to the company.

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