Premier Investments weathers the covid storm as online sales jump

Premier Investments (ASX: PMV) has managed to keep margins and sales intact during a challenging first-half, impacted by government mandates and omicron.

The company's stock is down -0.3% in early-trade.

Financials at a glance

• Revenue of $770m, down -1.93%

• Gross margin of 65.9%, up 54 bps 

• Net profit of $163.6m, down -13%

• Record interim dividend of 46 cents per share, up 35.3%

Excluding significant items, Premier earnings were 5.5% higher than last year. The company incurred $15.6m in significant items, related to covid rent concessions.

The interim dividend has a record date of Wednesday, June 22 and represents a yield of around 1.6% based on today's open price of $28.80.

Weathering the storm

“1H22 was one of the most challenging and unpredictable halves of the pandemic. Under government mandates, stores in our largest markets were shut for most of the first quarter equating to 42,675 trading days during the period,” said Chairman Solomon Lew. 

To add some perspective, Premier lost 50,581 retail store trading days for the entirety of FY21.

Online sales helped pick up the slack, up 27.3% to a record $195.4m.

The online channel now contributes 25.4% of total Group sales, compared to 20.1% a year ago.

Premier brands power ahead 

“It was particularly pleasing to see the record results from Peter Alexander, Portmans and Online. Further, the Smiggle business has shown positive momentum during the half as children have returned to school and COVID-19 restrictions have eased,” CEO Richard Murray said in a statement.

Peter Alexander sales rose 11.4% to $227.4m - contributing 29.5% to overall Group sales.

Smiggle sales rose 5.6% to $146.3m or 19% of Group sales. The Smiggle business faced major disruptions in the first-half as a result of school and store closures across Australia.

Outlook 

Premier said that the second-half of 2022 has “opened strongly” with total global sales up 6.2% in the first 5 weeks. 

Premier Investment 12-month price