Surprise reaction to JB Hi-Fi's big profits
Results posted on Monday show JB Hi-Fi Australia sales rose 7.5 per cent for the year to $7.1bn, with profit rising 6 per cent despite tighter margins.
Despite a higher final dividend and a special dividend for shareholders, investors were not convinced of the company's worth, with the share price losing almost 7 per cent in the first two hours of trading.
JB Hi-Fi is a key indicator of consumer confidence in Australia; the $12.5bn company is the third-largest company on the ASX discretionaries sector.
The share price fell on Monday morning after the company announced chief executive Terry Smart would be stepping down after 20 years in charge. There are 206 JB Hi-Fi stores in Australia. This year, two have opened and one has closed. NewsWire / Jeremy Piper Credit: News Corp Australia
The financial results were better than market expectations and bolstered by sales at premium home appliance retailer E&S, which the company bought in September.
JB Hi-Fi Ltd also owns The Good Guys, which posted a 6.9 per cent lift in sales ($2.9bn) and an even fatter profit increase (to 8.2 per cent).
The group's overall net profit was up 5.4 per cent (to $462.4m) but was dented after The Good Guys settled a lawsuit with the competition regulator for $13.7m over misleading statements about store credit.
At JB Hi-Fi's Australian stores, increasing sales were driven by the new Nintendo Switch despite more discounting and promotions cutting into margins.
Compared with the year prior, JB Hi-Fi New Zealand proved more profitable in all key measures.
The outgoing chief executive also presented shareholders an increased dividend and a special dividend.
'It has been another strong year of sales and earnings, as we built on the momentum of the previous year,' Mr Smart said.
'The company stayed focused on its core proposition of driving great value and delivering consistently high levels of customer service which continued to resonate.'
A final dividend of $1.05 was declared, bringing the total ordinary dividend to $2.75, a $0.14 increase on last year. JB Hi-Fi will also pay a fully franked $1 special dividend next month.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Telegraph
7 minutes ago
- Daily Telegraph
ABS travel data shows fall in Aussie visits to US
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. Australian holiday-makers continue to drift away from the US, with fresh Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing a stark fall off in visitor numbers. Overseas arrivals and departures data shows the US fell from third to fourth most popular travel destination across 2024-25. Travel to the vast and vibrant North American democracy was now 25 per cent lower from 10 years ago, the ABS said. China, meanwhile, rose two spots to fifth place, even as the government recommends travellers exercise a 'high degree of caution' when visiting the Communist country. More restrictive US trade and entry policies, introduced following US President Donald Trump's victory in November last year, could be dampening Australia's traditional American wanderlust. The US boasts a range of legendary cities including New York. Picture: Visit USA In a trading update from July, travel booking company Flight Centre warned of an 'ongoing global downturn in bookings to the US' and said Australian holiday-makers were searching for destinations closer to home. 'This volatility temporarily disrupted traditional travel and booking patterns during Flight Centre's peak trading period as some customers either booked closer-to-home overseas holidays (in Australia, examples include China, Japan, Fiji and New Zealand) or delayed finalising travel plans,' the company said. The $2.8bn company delivered a reduced profit forecast as a result of the disruption in traditional travel patterns. Though travel to the US declined, Indonesia held steady as Australia's most popular travel destination. Indonesia remains Australia's most popular holiday destination. Picture: Getty Images The northern neighbour, which boasts the tourism crown jewel of Bali, accounted for 14 per cent of Australian overseas trips across the year. Some 87 per cent of the 1,741,370 trips recorded to Indonesia were for holidays. New Zealand came in second place, Japan third, the US fourth and China at No.5. Trips to Japan have tripled compared with 2015, while trips to India have doubled. For travel into Australia, New Zealanders took out top spot, accounting for 16.6 per cent of all visitors, or 1,391,140 visits. The median duration of stay in Australia was 12 days, the same as 2023-24. Originally published as ABS overseas arrivals and departures data shows 25 per cent fall in Aussie visits to US
Sky News AU
43 minutes ago
- Sky News AU
ABS travel data shows fall in Aussie visits to US
Australian holiday-makers continue to drift away from the US, with fresh Australian Bureau of Statistics data revealing a stark fall off in visitor numbers. Overseas arrivals and departures data shows the US fell from third to fourth most popular travel destination across 2024-25. Travel to the vast and vibrant North American democracy was now 25 per cent lower from 10 years ago, the ABS said. China, meanwhile, rose two spots to fifth place, even as the government recommends travellers exercise a 'high degree of caution' when visiting the Communist country. More restrictive US trade and entry policies, introduced following US President Donald Trump's victory in November last year, could be dampening Australia's traditional American wanderlust. In a trading update from July, travel booking company Flight Centre warned of an 'ongoing global downturn in bookings to the US' and said Australian holiday-makers were searching for destinations closer to home. 'This volatility temporarily disrupted traditional travel and booking patterns during Flight Centre's peak trading period as some customers either booked closer-to-home overseas holidays (in Australia, examples include China, Japan, Fiji and New Zealand) or delayed finalising travel plans,' the company said. The $2.8bn company delivered a reduced profit forecast as a result of the disruption in traditional travel patterns. Though travel to the US declined, Indonesia held steady as Australia's most popular travel destination. The northern neighbour, which boasts the tourism crown jewel of Bali, accounted for 14 per cent of Australian overseas trips across the year. Some 87 per cent of the 1,741,370 trips recorded to Indonesia were for holidays. New Zealand came in second place, Japan third, the US fourth and China at No.5. Trips to Japan have tripled compared with 2015, while trips to India have doubled. For travel into Australia, New Zealanders took out top spot, accounting for 16.6 per cent of all visitors, or 1,391,140 visits. The median duration of stay in Australia was 12 days, the same as 2023-24. Originally published as ABS overseas arrivals and departures data shows 25 per cent fall in Aussie visits to US
News.com.au
an hour ago
- News.com.au
Lunch Wrap: ASX smashes fresh record as earnings season runs hot
ASX hits fresh high as Origin powers up
 Westpac jumps on big quarter Bitcoin smashes record, Ethereum eyes personal best next The ASX was strutting into Thursday lunchtime in the east with a 0.7% lift, rewriting the record books yet again. Wall Street also rallied overnight, buoyed by the growing belief the Fed's about to hand out rate cuts like a spring clearance sale. Bitcoin burst into the party, too, clocking another all-time high and flexing at US$123,675 at the time of writing, while Ethereum is lurking just shy of its own record of US$4,878 (set four years ago). Back home, it was the utilities sector leading the charge, up on the back of Origin Energy's (ASX:ORG) blockbuster 5% surge. Origin's LNG cash machine kept humming in FY25, lifting profit, fattening franked dividends, and easily outshining softer energy retail as it handed shareholders a juicier 60c payout. Banks also staged a comeback after Wednesday's bruising. Westpac (ASX:WBC) was the headline act, rocketing 7% thanks to a 14% jump in third-quarter profit and a cool $10 billion lift in deposits. Suncorp Group (ASX:SUN) rose 3% on a 52% profit leap in its full-year results thanks to its ANZ bank sale gains. Elsewhere in earnings season madness, Telstra (ASX:TLS) was the lone sector buzzkill for telcos, down 3% despite a 31% jump in annual profit to $2.34 billion and a $1 billion share buyback. Pro Medicus (ASX:PME) impressed with a 40% profit jump in its full-year numbers and $520 million in fresh US contracts, lifting shares 5%. Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) jumped 7% after full-year revenue grew 21%. Apparently we still can't resist a good online furniture binge. But not everyone was kicking goals. South32 (ASX:S32) slid 5% after slapping a US$372 million impairment on its Mozal aluminium smelter in Mozambique. Without a new power deal, the operation could shut in March, it said. ASX LEADERS Today's best performing stocks (including small caps) intraday: Security Description Last % Volume MktCap GGE Grand Gulf Energy 0.002 100% 800,584 $2,820,425 MRD Mount Ridley Mines 0.005 80% 30,230,623 $1,946,223 ATV Activeportgroupltd 0.016 68% 59,216,662 $6,526,282 MEL Metgasco Ltd 0.003 50% 100,000 $3,674,173 OD6 Od6Metalsltd 0.100 47% 19,995,087 $10,911,821 BPH BPH Energy Ltd 0.013 44% 19,133,068 $10,964,095 BPP Babylon Pump & Power 0.007 40% 7,930,629 $19,034,455 CR9 Corellares 0.004 33% 750,000 $3,021,809 TYX Tyranna Res Ltd 0.004 33% 250,000 $10,026,464 KNG Kingsland Minerals 0.185 28% 352,638 $10,521,332 BMM Bayanminingandmin 0.165 27% 5,500,122 $14,196,703 FRB Firebird Metals 0.175 25% 3,055,947 $19,930,596 ARV Artemis Resources 0.005 25% 3,261,000 $11,462,689 DTM Dart Mining NL 0.003 25% 10,091,666 $2,396,111 OSX Osteopore Limited 0.010 25% 933,405 $1,898,080 VRC Volt Resources Ltd 0.005 25% 25,681 $18,739,398 SLM Solismineralsltd 0.135 23% 1,380,384 $15,518,820 BM8 Battery Age Minerals 0.082 22% 11,644,677 $10,170,722 BMG BMG Resources Ltd 0.012 21% 10,315,111 $8,059,773 MMR Mec Resources 0.006 20% 6,840,475 $9,248,829 SPQ Superior Resources 0.006 20% 1,487,217 $11,854,914 TML Timah Resources Ltd 0.031 19% 164 $2,307,754 ActivePort Group (ASX:ATV) has switched on Australia's first private-cloud superhighway, landing DigiCo, Equinix and NextDC as early customers just weeks after launch. Its Private-Cloud Connect delivers wholesale, fibre-based, on-demand bandwidth between branch offices and private clouds in top Aussie data centres, built for the AI era where demand for local hosting is surging. Battery Age Minerals (ASX:BM8) has confirmed Falcon Lake is more than just a lithium play, with new assays showing high-grade rubidium, caesium, tantalum and gallium alongside its already strong spodumene hits. The latest drilling backs Falcon Lake as a multi-metal prize, with standout lithium intercepts including 54.1m at 1.74% Liâ‚‚O and 55.95m at 1.47% Liâ‚‚O. With only five of 30 high-priority targets drilled and lithium prices starting to recover, the company said the project has plenty of runway for more discoveries and market upside. ASX LAGGARDS Today's worst performing stocks (including small caps) intraday: Code Name Price % Change Volume Market Cap LNU Linius Tech Limited 0.001 -50% 7,546,000 $13,002,431 ECT Env Clean Tech Ltd. 0.003 -25% 553,610 $16,061,742 PKO Peako Limited 0.003 -25% 10,670,597 $5,950,968 RKB Rokeby Resources Ltd 0.010 -23% 3,031,200 $21,253,195 CAV Carnavale Resources 0.004 -20% 858,307 $20,451,092 ERA Energy Resources 0.002 -20% 1,929,673 $1,013,490,602 CTM Centaurus Metals Ltd 0.368 -18% 1,344,178 $223,515,546 BUY Bounty Oil & Gas NL 0.003 -17% 870,000 $4,684,416 EMT Emetals Limited 0.005 -17% 1,069,204 $5,100,000 SER Strategic Energy 0.005 -17% 3,354,304 $5,020,150 SHP South Harz Potash 0.003 -17% 1,400,675 $4,415,170 AVE Avecho Biotech Ltd 0.006 -14% 99,629 $22,214,246 CR1 Constellation Res 0.120 -14% 5,000 $10,088,556 CYQ Cycliq Group Ltd 0.006 -14% 93,818 $3,223,617 OVT Ovanti Limited 0.006 -14% 1,343,942 $29,920,265 TSL Titanium Sands Ltd 0.006 -14% 410,785 $16,413,230 BEL Bentley Capital Ltd 0.013 -13% 1,550,000 $1,141,919 ANR Anatara Ls Ltd 0.007 -13% 100,000 $1,708,723 AON Apollo Minerals Ltd 0.007 -13% 512,488 $7,427,655 IN CASE YOU MISSED IT RBA rate cut: Why the cost of doing nothing just got more expensive for property investors. Parental safety and privacy concerns are fuelling growth for ASX tech stocks in the booming 'anxiety economy'. White Cliff Minerals' (ASX:WCN) first round of drilling at Rae has identified a sediment-hosted copper system, underlain by semi-massive sulphide veining. Albion Resources (ASX:ALB) has completed the sale of Mongers Lake to Capricorn Metals (ASX:CMM) for $100,000 cash and 1.4 million in shares. LAST ORDERS Lumos Diagnostics (ASX:LDX) is looking to expand its marketing presence in the US, inking a partnering agreement with US-based market access consultancy, PRO-spectus. PRO-spectus will support the marketing, market access, and reimbursement of LDX's flagship point-of-care test, FebriDx®. New Age Exploration (ASX:NAE) has welcomed financial market veteran Daniel Eddington to the board as an independent non-executive director. Eddington also serves as a non-executive director for Osmond Resources (ASX:OSM) and Jade Gas (ASX:JGH) and as a director of Sparc Technologies (ASX:SPN). VHM (ASX:VHM) is moving into a new stage of development for its heavy minerals and rare earths Goschen project, welcoming new CEO Andrew King and CFO Benjamin McCormick to the board effective October 1. Current CEO Ron Douglas will subsequently resume his non-executive director position on the board as planned, after assisting in King's transition over the next few months. At Stockhead, we tell it like it is. While Lumos Diagnostics, VHM and New Age Exploration are Stockhead advertisers, they did not sponsor this article.
