Briscoe says 3Q sales rise, things looking up

Briscoe Group managing director Rod Duke. Picture/supplied

Briscoe Group says the final quarter of the year is looking positive after an increase in third-quarter sales.

The homewares and sporting goods retailer said its unaudited sales for the thirteen weeks to October 27 came to $140.4 million, 5.7 per cent higher than a year earlier. Homeware sales lifted 4.7 per cent to $87.9m and sporting goods sales rose 7.4 per cent to $52.4m.

"The group has delivered very solid sales growth during this third quarter in a highly competitive retail market," said managing director Rod Duke.

In September, Briscoe reported a flat first-half net profit and said the second half was uncertain given subdued business and consumer confidence, increased cost pressures and the lower New Zealand dollar.

Today, Duke told BusinessDesk that October was "very strong" and that the "fourth quarter is looking a bit encouraging."

Consumer confidence is faring slightly better, according to the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence index reported last week.

Of the 1,001 respondents to the consumer confidence survey, a net 20 per cent said they were better off financially than they were 12 months earlier, up from 11 per cent in September. That was the highest level since 2007.

Business confidence also improved slightly, but remains deeply negative. A net 42.4 per cent of the 412 respondents surveyed by ANZ Bank expect general business conditions will deteriorate during the coming year, down from 53.5 percent in September.

However, firms' optimism about their own activity fell, with a net 3.5 per cent now expecting things to get worse, compared with the net 1.8 per cent who were negative in the September survey.

On a same-store basis, Briscoe says group sales were 4.1 per cent above the third quarter last year. The same-store calculation adjusts for the new Rebel Sport stores opened by the group at Papanui, Christchurch in November 2018 and in Newmarket, Auckland in September this year, Briscoe Group said.

On a same-store basis, homeware sales increased by 4.7 per cent, while sporting goods sales were 3.2 per cent higher.

Duke also noted that online sales for the first nine months of the financial year are up 20 per cent versus the same period a year earlier.

The stock last traded down 0.3 per cent at $3.66 and have gained 8.6 per cent year-to-date.