“If you look at those dynamics,then it certainly is a good outlook for us. We are feeling good going into December,January,but you can’t look any further than that,” Ms Page said.
Retail industry bodies are expecting shoppers to spend about $60 billion this Christmas,which is in line with last year’s spending but up on pre-pandemic times. And merchants are hoping a buoyant shopping season will help to offset some sales lost through this year’s elongated lockdowns in both Sydney and Melbourne.
In a trading update provided ahead of its annual general meeting on Wednesday,Harvey Norman told investors total sales from July 1 to November 21 fell 8.8 per cent compared with the same period last year. Profit before tax and non-controlling interests slumped 35.5 per cent to $217.4 million in the quarter.
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The fall was largely driven by lockdowns which affected Harvey Norman stores both at home and abroad. A total of 168 franchised stores across Victoria and NSW were shut at various times during the period,though online and click and collect trade continued. Stores in the ACT,New Zealand and Malaysia were also affected by lockdowns.
However,the slump was made worse by the business’ record results in the year-ago period which it was unable to match through the last quarter. At the company’s full-year results earlier this year,Mr Harvey said he was shocked by the full-year performance,whichreported a massive 78.8 per cent jump in full-year earnings to $1.18 billion.
When compared to the COVID-free 2019 financial year,the retailer’s latest first quarter results look better. Earnings are still up 70 per cent and sales have risen 16.9 per cent over the two-year period.