Online furniture retailer Temple & Webster continues to edge away from oblivion and towards a first-ever profit.
The company yesterday reported a 40% increase in revenue for the six months to December to $49.3 million.
That saw the company report earnings before interest, tax depreciation and amortisation of $900,000, compared with a $500,000 loss for the December 2017 half year.
Management says the company expects to deliver a maiden full-year profit. Shares last traded at $1.03.
The number of active customers increased by 32 percent and the company spend less on advertising.
Temple & Webster says it now has $11.5 million cash and is debt free.
It will soon launch a mobile app and move into home improvement.
Investors loved the news and sent the shares up more than 11% to $1.145 yesterday.
That’s the highest they have been since late last November and it would appear the company has escaped the weak conditions that have caught other retailers in the past three months.
Temple’s CEO Mark Coulter said in a statement:
strongest results to date. We have grown both active customers and revenue per active customer to deliver 40% year on year revenue growth, which is encouraging given the broader retail market challenges occurring as a result of the housing market downturn.”
“Interestingly, the continued strong performance of our furniture categories during the half suggests consumers are still willing to spend money on their homes, and that our positioning around affordable beauty is resonating well with our customers.
“Our strategy of being a category specialist, with a clear customer offering built around the largest range of furniture and homewares in the country, combined with the most inspirational content and the best customer service is working,” said Coulter.
January trading has started strongly, with growth exceeding the H1 FY19 growth rate of 40%.
While the Company will continue to strengthen its core offering, it will increasingly be investing in future growth opportunities. These include launching a mobile app to capitalise on the continued growth of mobile as a primary device, international expansion through a New Zealand pilot, expanding into new categories such as home improvement, and investing further into our B2B Trade & Commercial division.
“The next phase of our journey is all about growth. With only ~4% of furniture and homewares being currently purchased online, we are well placed for strong growth for years to come” said Coulter.
