The S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) went 0.8% lower today to 6,663 points.
Here are some of the highlights from the ASX:
JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH)
JB Hi-Fi announced its FY21 half-year update. The retailer said that its sales went up by 23.7% to $4.94 billion, earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) went up 75.9% to $462.7 million and net profit after tax (NPAT) rose by 86.2% to $317.7 million.
Management said that sales momentum was strong throughout the half, with continued elevated customer demand for consumer electronics and home appliances products. This, combined with high growth of online sales and a strong Black Friday sales period, more than offset the impact of the government mandated temporary store closures during the half. Online sales went up 161.7% to $678.8 million, which represented 13.7% of total sales.
The ASX 200 share said that gross margins were well managed with strong improvements in gross margins in key categories, particularly in The Good Guys, but was offset by the sales mix in JB Hi-Fi Australia and JB Hi-Fi New Zealand.
JB Hi-Fi also said that disciplined cost control combined with strong sales growth drove significant operating leverage. It didn't receive any government wage subsidies and continued to pay landlords and team members throughout the half, including the periods where stores were temporarily closed.
The JB Hi-Fi share price went up by close to 4% today.
Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL)
The Super Retail share price fell 1.6% today despite revealing large profit growth in the first half of FY21.
For the 26-week period ending 26 December 2020, the company said that it achieved a record result with group sales growth of 23% and like-for-like sales growth of 24%. Online sales went up 87% to $327 million.
The Super Retail gross margin improved by 270 basis points, which supported higher EBIT margins across all four core brands.
Super Retail reported that its provisional segment underlying EBIT was $253 million to $256 million – this would equate to growth of 119% to 122%. It also said that provisional normalised net profit is going to be in a range of $174 million to $177 million, which would be growth of 135% to 139%.
Statutory net profit is expected to be in a range of $170 million to $173 million, which would be growth of 196% to 201%.
Anthony Heraghty, the CEO and managing director of Super Retail, said: "Strong cashflow generation leaves us well placed in the second half to reinvest in our brands to maintain our customer value proposition, expand and reward our customer base, consolidate our market-leading positions and grow our market share. As inventory levels are restored during the second half, following a period of unprecedented consumer demand, we expect the level of promotional activity to increase."
Woodside Petroleum Limited (ASX: WPL)
The Woodside share price fell 0.4% despite the company giving the market a positive update.
It said that it had agreed to amend the binding long-term sale and purchase agreement to increase the supply of LNG from Woodside's global portfolio to Uniper.
The quantity of Woodside LNG to be supplied under the amended agreement has doubled. Initial supply commencing in 2021 is now for a volume of up to 1 million tonnes per annum (mtpa), increasing to 2 mtpa from 2026. Most of the LNG supply after 2025 will come from the Scarborough gas resource.
Woodside CEO Peter Coleman said: "Scarborough is a globally competitive, capital efficient LNG development which supports the decarbonisation ambitions of our customers.
"This agreement with Uniper highlights the strong market demand we are seeing for Scarborough LNG as customers consider their energy requirements from the second half of this decade. We have now secured long-term customers for over 40% of our expected Scarborough equity production."
