- Footwear retailer Accent Group (AX1) has reported strong EBITDA results for the half-year which ended on December 27, 2020
- The company attributed the growth to unexpectedly strong sales in November and December, and continuing cost
- As such, Accent Group is well positioned for the back-to-school trading period across its various sales channels
- Due to ongoing uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the company will not provide guidance for the 2021 financial year
- Accent Group closed 0.84 per cent in the red to trade for $2.35 per share
Footwear retailer Accent Group (AX1) has reported strong EBITDA results for the half-year which ended on December 27, 2020.
For the company, this period represents the first half of the 2021 financial year. Thus far, Accent Group has not provided profit guidance for the first half of the 2021 financial year, nor the full financial year either.
However, the company’s EBITDA for the period is expected to be within the range of $95 million to $98 million. This represents growth of between 40 per cent to 45 per cent, compared to EBITDA from the first half of the 2020 financial year.
Accent Group has attributed the growth to numerous factors, including unexpectedly strong sales in November and December. During this time, which is dominated by cyber events like Black Friday, as well as Christmas spending, total sales were up 12.3 per cent.
Throughout the half-year, the company saw record digital sales of $108.1 million, a 110 per cent increase on the previous year. Recent marked increases in online sales have been a common observation across various industries, after the COVID-19 pandemic caused many brick-and-mortar stores to close down.
Despite its stores in Auckland, Victoria, and Adelaide being closed, Accent Group benefitted from sales from new stores. The company also saved money through ongoing austerity measures, such as rental abatements and wage subsidies.
Accent Group’s CEO, Daniel Agostinelli, praised the team’s execution of the all-important November cyber events and the lead-up to Christmas.
“Our strong focus and capability in digital, combined with operational excellence in merchandise and store execution has delivered a strong, trading-led result,” he said.
“The company’s store network and best-in-class digital fulfilment capability allowed us to fulfill significant volumes of online Christmas customer orders placed up until 22 December in time for Christmas Day,” he added.
Daniel went on to say that the company is well set for the significant back-to-school trading period across its digital, virtual, and store sales channels.
As previously stated, Accent Group has not previously provided profit guidance for the first half of the 2021 financial year. Due to ongoing uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the company has decided not to provide guidance for the next half, or for the full financial year at all.
Accent Group closed 0.84 per cent in the red, to trade for $2.35 per share.