Michael Hill's Revenue Falls in First Half

RAPAPORT... Michael Hill's sales fell 2.7% in the first half of its fiscal year due to the lingering impact of a discounting policy that it has been working to abolish, the company said. Group revenue dropped to AUD 315.4 million ($226 million), thejeweler reported Wednesday. During the first four months of the period endingDecember 31, the jeweler suffered from a marketing strategy featuring heavydiscounting, which it believed lowered the value of its brand among consumers.Same-store sales - those at branches open for at least a year - slid 6% duringthe six months. However, sales improved in the last two months of 2018 as it adjusted its strategy, with group sales increasing 2.9% for that period, while same-store sales grew 1.1%. "[The] move away from discounting...had a significant impacton revenue," the company said. "A refined approach to event and promotionalcampaigns in November and December saw a turnaround in performance." Group profit more than doubled to AUD 19.5 million ($14million) in the first fiscal half, versus AUD 8.7 million ($6.2 million) a year before. In 2017, the company paid one-time charges related to its store closures in the US. Same-store sales in Australia, the jeweler's largest market,fell 5% to AUD 175.5 million ($125.8 million). Profit for the region dropped 6%to AUD 110.5 million ($79.2 million). Sales in New Zealand slipped 6% to NZD 65.8 million ($45.2million), with profit sliding 4.1% to NZD 41.2 million ($28.4 million). Revenuefor shops in Canada rose 0.9% to CAD 74.4 million ($56.6 million). Profit forthe region went up 0.3% to CAD 46 million ($35 million). The group opened six new stores during the period, and closedthree, bringing the total number to 311 on December 31. Image: A Michael Hill store in Australia. (JHVEPhoto/Shutterstock)