Renaissance closes stores, warns on profit

Renaissance Corp, operator of Yoobee, a New Zealand retailer of Apple products, has issued a profit warning and is shutting four of its nine stores in a bid to restore profitability. yoobee

There will be 14 to 15 job losses as a result of the store closures.

“The year to September 2013 is going to be another disappointing result,” the Christchurch-based company said.

On Monday, it closed Apple reseller stores in Albany, Britomart, Sylvia Parka and Dunedin.

The remaining Yoobee stores in Newmarket, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch will offer full service functions in an effort to differentiate them from competitors, Renaissance said.

“In the first instance, we have to get retail back to break-even,” the company said.

“We do not underestimate the difficulty of that task, but management has a plan and part of that plan was implemented with the closure of four stores.”

The company posted a first-half loss of $NZ3.1 million ($A2.69 million) on sales of $NZ24.7m, and took a $NZ2.99m impairment to write off goodwill on its retail division.

Renaissance has been in a protracted due diligence process with a party interested in the education unit, formerly known as Natcoll Design Technology, and received a proposal on July 12 which the board is still working through.

The education unit has been performing well, but may fall slightly short of its forecast earnings before interest and tax of $NZ2.4m, the company said.

Shares in Renaissance were unchanged at 11 NZ cents, having plunged 45 per cent this year.

That values the company at about $NZ4.8m.

BusinessDesk

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