Jeweller Michael Hill International has reported a flat first-half profit after losing 20 per cent of its trading days due to store closures resulting from Covid-19 lockdowns.
Net profit after tax was A$37.1 million in the six months to December 26, compared to A$37.5m the previous year.
Total revenue was up 2.3 per cent at A$327.1m despite the company's stores being closed for 9,777 days due to covid lockdowns.
Michael Hill has 285 stores across New Zealand (49), Australia (150) and Canada (86).
Comparable earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) increased by 15 per cent to $51.6m.
The group also released a new dividend policy and an interim dividend payment of AU3.5 cents per share, unfranked and fully imputed.
Chief executive Daniel Bracken said in January, Australia and Canada were impacted by Omicron, with significantly lower foot traffic, challenging rostering and reduced store trading hours.
"Potentially, similar impacts may arise in New Zealand in the coming weeks," he said.
For the first eight weeks of this year, the group's same store sales were "flat" but all store sales were up by 14 per cent and the gross margin remained "strong".
For the period ending in December 26, 2021, the retailer saw sales increase via its digital and Omni-channel across the regions which were rolled out during the Christmas period.
It's digital sales increased by 37 per cent per cent to $26.7m, representing 8.2 per cent of revenue for the half-year.
The company's omni-channel strategy saw the launch of click and collect in all markets for the Christmas trading period.
In the last 18 months, the company has rolled out a number of customer-led omni-channel offerings comprising click and reserve; digital appointments; virtual selling; a ship from store; and most recently click and collect, Bracken said.
Gross margin increased by 240 bps to 65.1 per cent.
The company's closing cash position was $99.1m, up from $90.3m on the previous year's half-year result.