This morning, electronics retail heavyweight JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) released its report for the six-month period ended 31 December 2015.
In an ASX announcement, JB Hi-Fi reported a 7.5% jump in profit to $95.2 million with revenue of $2,116.8 million, up 7.7% on the prior corresponding period.
Net profit was up 7.5% to $95.2 million with earnings per share also up 7.5% to 96.1 cents per share.
JB Hi-Fi CEO, Richard Murray, said, "This was a solid result with trading in the important November and December periods particularly strong as we executed on a great promotional plan".
During the period, JB Hi-Fi opened seven stores in Australia and New Zealand, taking the total count to 194. The company expects to open a further eight stores, with a target of 214 across both markets.
The rollout of JB Hi-Fi HOME, the company's home and kitchen appliances business, continues to gain traction. Of the 194 stores, 56 are now HOME stores, with a target of 75 stores in the network expected. "Each new JB HI-FI HOME store contributes to growing our customer awareness, market share and supplier support," Mr Murray said.
"Appliances are a natural adjacency to our successful consumer electronics categories and accessing the $4.6 billion appliance market, via both the introduction of small appliances to existing JB HI-FI stores and the HOME store conversions, is a significant growth opportunity for the company," he said.
Revenue from the New Zealand network also jumped 12.5% during the period. Online sales jumped 28.9% and now represent 3% of the group total.
Pleasingly, the company's board declared an interim dividend of 63 cents per share, fully franked, up 4% on last year's interim payout. The dividend is payable on March 4th, 2016.
JB Hi-fi also reported that same store sales growth was strong in January 2016 – up 6.5%.
Looking ahead the company says the market is expected to remain competitive, but forecast total sales of $3.9 billion and a net profit after tax in the range of $143 million to $147 million over its 2016 financial year results.
"We continue with a strong investment program including rolling out JB HI-FI HOME, the introduction of small appliances to existing stores and upgrades to a number of our stores," Mr Murray concluded. "This will position us well as we cycle a strong second half in the prior year."
The JB Hi-Fi share price was down 1.1% to $31.87 in morning trade on the ASX, while the S&P/ASX 200 (Index: ^AXJO) (ASX: XJO) had dropped just 0.4%.
