Michael Hill performed well over Christmas
Michael Hill boosted by Christmas
Posted January 18, 2011 | By Sonia Nair
The Christmas trading period buoyed Michael Hill’s worldwide performance in the six months to the end of December 2010.
Total sales for all Australian stores increased by 10.5 per cent to NZ$180.9 million ($139.9 million) and same store sales increased by 9.8 per cent to NZ$177.2 million ($137.0 million).
New Zealand recorded a 6 per cent increase in its same store sales to NZ$55.6 million ($43.0 million) and a 7 per cent increase to NZ$56.1 million ($43.4 million) in its total sales.
Worldwide same store sales increased by 9.8 per cent and total sales for all stores increased by 9.9 per cent compared with the corresponding period last year.
“Sales in the second quarter including the key [Christmas] trading period held up well with same store growth of 7.7 per cent achieved for the quarter giving the group a ‘same stores’ improvement in sales of 9.8 per for the half,” Michael Hill said.
Michael Hill stores in the northern hemisphere recorded larger improvement margins than their southern counterparts with Canada and the US recording same store sales increases of 15.9 per cent and 20.1 per cent respectively.
“The directors are especially pleased to see sales in Canada and the United States bounce back after tough trading conditions since late 2007, however retail conditions remain difficult in North America,” Michael Hill said in a statement.
Although Canada recorded the biggest improvement in its total stores sales with a 24.4 per cent leap, the US was the only country to record a decrease in total store sales, which plummeted 24.1 per cent.
The closure of eight American stores in June 2010 contributed to this.
Australia remains a key market for Michael Hill with 67.3 per cent of its total store sales originating from here. According to Jeweller’s 2010 State of the Industry report, Michael Hill has aprroximately 10 per cent of the Australian jewellery chain store market and has forecast that it will have 159 Australian stores by December 2012.
Michael Hill forecast half-year EBIT to be in the range of NZ$32 million ($24.7 million) to NZ$34 million ($26.3 million), compared with NZ$30.3 million ($23.4 million) in 2010.
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