This is not a good result on Melbourne Cup Day. Sales have hit a nasty thud for retail giant in latest financial quarter – with Australia sales falling 2.9 percent to compared to the same quarter last year.
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| Black day for Harvey Norman with 20% profit slump |
And it was disappointing news on the international front for Harvey’s also, with global sales falling 3.8% to $1.48 billion for the three months to September 30th, it announced late yesterday.
This figure for Q1 2012 includes all sales from Australia, New Zealand, Ireland (and Northern Ireland) and Slovenia, although excludes its Singapore division.
Total profit before tax also slumped almost 20 percent (19.3%) to $14.9m.
Locally, the strong Aussie dollar, price deflation and “intense” competition eroding average selling prices were blamed for the steep decline, while internationally the deterioration of foreign currency against the Aussie dollar was cited as a major negating factor.
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The results, announced late to the ASX yesterday, suggests Harvey has something to hide.
Shares closed up 1c to $2.17 following the profit dip announcement, although slumped back to $2.03 this morning on early trading – it’s lowest level in over a month.
New Zealand and Northern Ireland also fared the worst out of Harvey’s foreign interests – NZ sales dropping a whopping 10.2 % while Northern Ireland interests 11.1% y-o-y, although Ireland currently in the midst of recession fell just 0.5 percent on Q1 2011.
4 Clive Peters and 3 Rick Hart stores were also closed during the three month period.
And four new Harvey Norman franchises including Springvale, Victoria, and 10,000 m superstores in Croatia, Slovenia and a ‘Space Asian Hub’ in Singapore.
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