Accent Group is set to heighten its focus on virtual, vertical and VIP strategies, CEO Daniel Agostinelli has revealed in a trading update.
Releasing its H1 FY2021 results, the business has reported that Group EBITDA for the half year ended December 27 2020 is expected to be in a range of $95 million to $98 million - representing growth of 40-45%.
The business puts these results down to strong like-for-like (LFL) sales in November and December - reporting total sales up 12.3% and LFL sales up 7.4% in these months - record digital sales (up 110% to $108.1 million in H1), strong sales from new stores and disciplined cost controls.
Agostinelli said that the business was able to pull on its resources throughout the November-December sales period to deliver strong sales.
"I am delighted with the way our team has executed through 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.
"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.
"We continue our focus on Virtual, Vertical and VIP with our growth initiatives progressing well across the board.
"We are well set for the significant back to school trading period across our digital, virtual and store sales channels," he said.
During the period, the business grappled with ongoing impacts from COVID-19, including the Adelaide and Northern Beaches lockdowns, where it continued to pay staff full wages despite significant decreases in store traffic.
The Company estimates that the net benefit of wage subsidies (July-September) in H1 FY2021 was $9.4 million.
Overall, Accent reported that LFL sales for the H1 period were up 2.7%, but excluding the Auckland, Victorian and Adelaide stores (while closed) LFL sales were up 12.3%.
Accent's digital channel grew to represent 22.3% of sales during the FY2021 H1 period.
Due to the ongoing uncertainty relating to COVID-19 Accent Group has determined not to provide guidance for H2 FY2021 or the full year.