Improving sales at Hellaby Holdings' retail operations including the Hannahs' footwear chain during the December quarter mean the company now expects a better year than it had earlier anticipated.
Hellaby issued a profit warning in October saying its June 2006 full year result would probably be up to 15 percent below the previous year's $19.9 million, having been weighed down by "the same influences which have affected the retail sector generally".
Yesterday, Hellaby said trading and profitability in the second quarter of the financial year and in particular in December in most divisions, including retail, was "significantly ahead of the first quarter and was ahead of that anticipated when the earlier profit announcement was made".
Hellaby managing director David Houldsworth said that if the better trading conditions continued for the rest of the year, the group's June year result was likely to be just 5 to 10 per cent below last year's and the December half result would probably be about 10 per cent below the $10.3 million achieved last year.
Houldsworth said Hellaby's adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards meant the company's half year result would be delayed slightly and was likely to be reported on March 3.
