JB Hi-Fi shares have jumped as much as 2.5 per cent this morning, after the retailer gave an impressive FY23 update.
For the first quarter of the financial year, between July 1 and September 30, sales for JB Hi-Fi’s Australian stores were up 14.6 per cent.
Total sales growth for JB HI-FI New Zealand was even more remarkable, at 27.7 per cent, with total sales growth for The Good Guys an impressive 12.3 per cent.
Shares sit at $43.40 as of 10:45am this morning, up 1.38 per cent today – and 11.94 per cent higher than a month ago.
The company also tackled its cybersecurity approach at today’s annual general meeting.
“We hold very little customer data that is sensitive such as licences,” explained JB Chairman Stephen Goddard.
“But certainly, we do hold customer names and addresses and phone numbers, and we take this as a matter of importance.”
“In fact, we’ve had audit committees and boards in the last couple of days, where we’ve spent quite a bit of time on this. We do regular testing where we get people to try and penetrate our systems.
“We try and ensure we have all of the right techniques that you need, such as multifactor authorisation to get people into the system. We restrict the number of people that have access to the portal.”
Goddard says JB Hi-Fi is in “pretty good shape” regarding cybersecurity, but the board remains vigilant.
CEO Terry Smart also noted how JB Hi-Fi was in good shape, financially speaking.
“In an uncertain retail environment and with household budgets under increasing pressure, customers gravitate to trusted value-driven retailers,” Smart said at the company’s AGM.
“Our ongoing strategy of providing customers with the best value and outstanding service every day, will ensure our brands continue to deliver for our customers and remain a destination of choice into the future.”
He expects gaming and smartphones to be the hot items this Christmas, although he acknowledges the added household pressures will likely hit hard after the holiday season.
“We’ve given up trying to guess what consumers will be doing because we haven’t guessed it right over the last few years, that’s for sure,” he told the AFR.
“But we just have to acknowledge there is continued pressure on household incomes and plus, we will be cycling some significant sales from last year which were driven by COVID.
“We anticipate that the second half of the [financial] year will be a bit more challenging than the first half.”
Smart also highlighted the Group’s strong FY22 performance during the AGM, noting the key growth areas for JB Hi-Fi Australia were Communications, Visual, Small Appliances, Smart Home and Accessories.
The FY22 results are below.
“I look forward to another exciting and successful year in FY23,” Smart concluded.
