Article – Businesswire

July 31 (BusinessWire) – Briscoes Group, the owner of homeware, Rebel Sports goods, Urban Loft and Living & Giving chains, said profit doubled in the first half as the retailer streamlined its tiers of management and reduced inventories to cut …

Briscoes says first-half profit doubled as cost cutting fattens margins

By Paul McBeth

July 31 (BusinessWire) – Briscoes Group, the owner of homeware, Rebel Sports goods, Urban Loft and Living & Giving chains, said profit doubled in the first half as the retailer streamlined its tiers of management and reduced inventories to cut costs.

The company said profit was at least NZ$6 million in the six months ended July 26, up from NZ$3.1 million a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Sales in the second quarter rose 3.7% to NZ$95.1 million, lifting first half revenue by 1.8%.

“We expect our results for the half year will show a gross margin for the group ahead of last year,” managing director Rod Duke said. “These efficiencies have been generated from the cost minimisation initiatives implemented progressively since early last year.”

Earlier this month, Duke predicted the chain-store owner would post a profit “north of NZ$3.6 million” in spite of static sales, although he said it wouldn’t come near the NZ$14.7 million profit of 2007. Profit in the year ended Jan. 25 slumped 48% to NZ$11.6 million.

The retail group has cut costs in the past 12 months by removing a tier of regional managers and installing its most experienced people back into stores, with profit incentives tied to their outlets.

The shares were unchanged at NZ$1.08 in trading today, and have surged some 41% in the past six months.

(BusinessWire)

Content Sourced from scoop.co.nz
Original url