JB Hi-Fi reports "good sales momentum" for 2015

JB Hi-Fi has had a strong start to 2015 with “good sales momentum”, its CEO Richard Murray told the Macquarie Australia conference.

The consumer electronics and appliance retailer is also a major seller of music in this country. No specific figures for music were supplied.

Across-the-board sales were up 8.35% in the three months to March 31 (or 6.6% excluding new stores), according to Murray who forecast a net profit for the financial year of between $127 million and $131 million from sales of $3.6 billion.

In comparison, retail sales grew by just 0.3% in March to $24.13 billion, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics figures released last week. Economists had expected a rise of 0.4% that month.

The rise in sales, particularly in high-end sound systems and headphones, boosted the chain’s total year-to-date growth to 3.4%, or 1.4% excluding new stores.

JB’s appliance HOME stores grew 11.8% in the third quarter, and estimated by analysts to be pulling in between $4.3 and $4.7 billion in sales. The company expects to have 43 HOME stores in Australia and New Zealand by the end of June.

New Zealand continues to be challenge for JB Hi-Fi, with third-quarter sales up 5.8% but same-stores sales were down 1.1%.