Serious questions are being asked, as to why Japanese watch brand Casio still uses Sydney based distributor Shriro after the business recently delivered another poor result.
Insiders claim that Japanese management at Casio one of their biggest clients, still think highly of Shriro CEO Tim Hargreaves the former General Manager of their account before he was promoted to CEO and have chosen to stay with Hargreaves as he attempts to turn Shriro around.
Picture shows left to right Shigenori Itoh (Executive Managing Officer), Kazuhiro Kashio (Chairman), Tim Hargreaves (Shriro CEO), Yuichi Masuda (President & CEO) Tetsuro Ono (Executive Officer – Senior General Manager)
The growth for Casio in 2023 came from school calculators and G-Shock watches.
Despite a horror track record that has seen their shares go from a high of $1.25 in 2021 at the height of the COVID outbreak to now wallowing at $0.75 cents Shriro appears to be struggling with revenues down in Australia down 24.2% in the six months to December 2023.
New Zealand Revues were down 10.4%.
International revenue was down 18.2%. Shiro’s sales of the American Standard and Grohe brands in this market has been slower than forecast.
EBITDA was $10.4M, down 16.1%.
Shriro management claim that reduced global demand for outdoor products has resulted in retailers being overstocked in BBQs.
On a bright note, Everdure by Heston BBQs grew in Australia by 9%, after a heavy discounting program which normalised the previously excess BBQ inventory management claim. One of their standout products is their new Everdure Pizza oven product continues to sell very well with the majority of Q3 FY24 shipments presold in the Australian market.
The Company also has no debt having sold their appliance business to Melbourne based Residentia.
Outlook
Shriro anticipates an EBITDA to be in the range of $15M to $17M. Included in the guidance is the implementation cost of the new ERP system of $1.6M in FY24, which is progressing as expected.
Currently the business evaluating further brands to potentially distribute in Australia and New Zealand, while also looking at acquisitions as a way to grow.
