Hallenstein Glasson bumps up profit forecast on healthy sales

Hallenstein Glasson shares jumped 11 per cent in afternoon trading today after the retailer upgraded its half year profit forecast.

The group today said healthy Christmas sales volumes should see its profit for the six months to February rise 10 to 15 per cent on the $6.99m reported at the same time last year.

Shareholders reacted positively to the forecast, bumping up the stock's price by 40c to $4.00. The stock has ranged between $2.73 and $3.95 over the past 12 months.

While a number of other major retailers have bemoaned the poor weather over the key Christmas shopping season, Hallenstein Glasson said the unseasonal conditions did not dampen sales.

Same store sales from December 1 to January 23 were up 1.77 per cent on the same time last year, while same store sales for the summer season to date (August 2 to January 23) were up 6.52 per cent.

Same store sales for the season so far at the group's New Zealand operations were up 4.09 per cent, while Australian same store sales jumped 33.83 per cent.

Hallenstein Glasson said in a statement that stocks were at a controllable level, and margins for the season were on budget.

The group will announce its half year results in mid March.

The announcement bucks the trend of other listed retailers, with The Warehouse, Postie Plus and Briscoe all announcing profit downgrades over the past month.

Last week The Warehouse said its profit for the six months to January 30 would be between 3 and 10 per cent lower than the same time the year earlier, citing poor summer sales.

Meanwhile Postie Plus has also issued a profit downgrade, saying it expected a first half loss of $700,000 loss, against a net profit of $3.1m for the first half of last year.

Fellow listed retail company, Briscoe Group said its full year profit was likely to be around 26 per cent lower than the year-earlier, falling to $17.5 million from $23.6 million.

On the upside, Pumpkin Patch also expects to boost its earnings, forecasting its net profit for the year ending July to jump 48 per cent to no less than $23 million.

- NZPA