Hallenstein Glasson, posting a 24 per cent drop in annual profit, says that all chains in the group are currently trading better than they did in the first weeks of the previous financial year.

The shares, which have declined 27 per cent so far in calendar 2014, jumped 9.2 per cent to $NZ3.10 on Thursday morning.

Net profit fell to $NZ14.3 million ($A13.31 million) in the year to August 1, from $NZ18.7m the previous year, the Auckland-based company said in a statement on Thursday.

The profit was above the company’s forecast of $NZ14 million to $NZ14.2 million.

Sales fell 5.5 per cent to $NZ208m.

Hallenstein, which operates the Hallensteins, Glassons, and Storm clothing chains in New Zealand and Australia, said annual profit declined after an improvement in the second half didn’t make up for a weak first half when poor December sales contributed to a 40 per cent drop in interim profit.

Still, the start of the 2015 financial year has been “encouraging” with group sales up four per cent on the prior year, it said.

The 2013/14 financial year had been “extremely challenging with all the brands in the group failing to deliver expected results,” CEO Graeme Popplewell said.

“Whilst there have been external influences that have been detrimental to trade, the majority of the difficulties we have faced have been due to internal factors that saw poor execution of planning and buying, particularly in the first half of the year.

“We have taken appropriate steps to ensure there is no recurrence of those circumstances and are starting to see the results of those efforts.”

The company will pay a final dividend of NZ16.5 cents, down from NZ17.5 cents in 2013.

BusinessDesk