Sales at Michael Hill slipped in the first fiscal half as weakness in the New Zealand market outweighed holiday gains in Australia and Canada.
Revenue for the six months that ended December 29 fell 1% year on year to AUD 359.1 million ($226.7 million), the Australian jeweler said last week. Canada delivered record growth of 2.4% to CAD 90.4 million ($63 million), while sales in Australia rose 1.3% to AUD 204.9 million ($129.4 million). However, challenging economic conditions in New Zealand drove a 7% drop to NZD 60.5 million ($34.5 million).
Despite strong sales in the first three months of the fiscal year, the beginning of the second quarter saw “challenging trading conditions,” Michael Hill noted. However, business picked up in December and continued into January. During the period, the company closed a net eight underperforming stores in Australia and Canada in an effort to cut costs.
“[While] we are disappointed with our overall sales result for the half, the business was comping record prior-year sales in both October and November, with eight fewer stores,” said Michael Hill CEO Daniel Bracken. “The flat sales for the half reflected strong business performance in the first three months, offsetting the more challenging trading conditions at the beginning of the second quarter.”
Image: A Michael Hill store in Sydney, Australia. (Shutterstock)
