Briscoe Group hails ‘remarkable performance’ in a tough year for retailers

Wednesday, 12 March 2025

Briscoe Group has posted a $60.6 million after-tax profit, which its chair Dame Roseanne Meo said reflected a “remarkable performance” by the owner of the Briscoes and Rebel Sports stores.

The profit for the 12-month period ending January 26 came on the back of sales that fell just short of the retailer’s record sales in the previous year, when its comparable after-tax profit was $62.6m.

Rod Duke, group managing director and majority owner, said: “To drive full year sales to 99.94% of last year’s record group sales is a terrific achievement.”

He said 2024 had been “an incredibly challenging year.”

In February, Stats NZ underlined the how tough the retail environment had been with the release of consumer sales data which showed that in 2024, retail sales were up just 0.3% across the country on the previous year.

Briscoe’s sales margins fell during the year, and Duke said one of the group’s goals was to stabilise its margins, and it had invested in analysis tools to help with promotion and planning in order to minimise having to sell stock at clearance prices.

The retailer had focused hard on cost control, and reducing inventory. It also carried no debt, however that would change as it invested in a new distribution centre in South Auckland.

“Earthworks are now well under way, and the shell of the new complex should begin to take shape towards the end of this current first half,” Duke said.

“At a time when other companies may very well be looking to refrain or defer significant strategic expenditure, we remain committed to investing in the group’s future,” he said.

The retailer had also invested in refurbishing stores and bringing in electronic pricing in stores.

“The successful roll-out of electronic labelling across the store network was a significant achievement for the team and we believe it is already producing positive results in relation to incremental sales, improved in-store standards and clarity of pricing for customers,” Duke said.

Briscoe Group lifted the proportion of its sales that were made online to nearly 20%, though homewares remained a category that shoppers continue to choose to shop for in brick and mortar stores.

“People still love being in our stores and seeing merchandise in the flesh, and seeing the colour and quality in the daylight, rather than on the screen,” Duke said.

The group was now using artificial intelligence tools to help it optimise online and in-store sales.

Briscoe Group would pay a final dividend of 10 cents per share, which, when added to the interim dividend of 12.5cps, brought the total dividend for the year to 22.5 cps. The final dividend would be paid on 27 March.

Duke said: “We do not underestimate just how tough trading will continue to be with the first half expected to be especially challenging.”

But, he said: “We expect this will see second half profitability exceed that produced for the first half in a return to a more normalised shape of profitability. We are hopeful that the economic recovery will gradually emerge as the year continues, which will assist us to achieve our goal of protecting this year’s level of profitability.”

Despite being in the retail industry for more than 30 years, Duke said he continued to love it.

“When you have been in an industry since you were 16 straight out of school, you have got to love it, or be a masochist,” he said.

Briscoe Group shares have only fallen from $4.75 to $4.55 in the past two years despite a challenging retail environment.

Over the past 12 months they have been flat, though a December spike in its share price at one point took the share price up to $5.50.

By contrast rival homewares retailer The Warehouse Group saw its shares fall nearly 28% in the past 12 months.