Fashion
Specialty retailer Baby Bunting said its online focus is paying off after posting strong online sales in the 12 months to June 30.
The retailer posted a 46 per cent increase in online sales for the period compared to the previous corresponding period saying “online continues to be the company’s largest trading unit” with online sales being 11.8 per cent of total annual sales.
Baby Bunting said click-and-collect sales grew 55 per cent in the period, and in areas where Baby Bunting has a store, click-and-collect sales now represent around 50 per cent of online sales in that trading catchment.
“Again, this demonstrates the role that stores and online can play in driving complementary sales growth,” the company said in a statement about its full-year results on Friday.
The one-stop baby shop posted a 43.3 per cent rise in full-year profit to $12.4 million, buoyed by demand for its new product range and further expansion of its private label and exclusive wares.
Total revenue for the 12 months rose 21 per cent to $368 million and the company hiked its fully franked final dividend by 2.6 cents to 5.1 cents.
“I am very proud of our performance for the year,” said Matt Spencer, Baby Bunting CEO and managing director. “We had an excellent year that has consolidated our position as the go-to destination for baby goods in Australia.”
Spencer said the retailer has pursued a number of actions to grow market share and profitability during FY19, including a continued focus on customer service, capitalising on available market share opportunities, securing prime sites for our store network, stabilising gross margin without compromising value, expanding private label and exclusive products and investing in their people and systems to support growth.
Spencer said Baby Bunting is expecting FY20 to be another year of solid growth with pro forma NPAT expected to be in the range of $20 million to $22 million and pro forma EBITDA expected to be in the range of $34 million to $37 million, representing growth of 25 per cent to 36 per cent.
