WHS - Warehouse Group

[nztx]

No it took around 800 yrs to be fully completed but a lot less time to be destroyed.

Grant is trying hard .. but thankfully WHS looks like it should survive the onslaught

[Waltzing]

off topic ..

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hi...e_Roman_Empire

or if you have the HBO series ROME..

[Beagle]

Lots of cost benefits still to come through -- staff reductions and newer IT systems.

Good point. Next week when I get the chance I will read the full annual report. In addition to what you've said last time I looked at the half year the weighted average lease term was only 4 years so there's plenty of scope for retail footprint optimization too through store within a store, refurbishing existing stores and culling unprofitable ones. It would be good if they can get the market into a profitable state, was quite a handbrake in FY21.
Very nice turnaround in Torpedo 7, lets hope for a lot of improvement in the market.com in FY22.

Very happy with the progress they're making.

[nztx]

Her exact words from the analyst presentation were :-

"The Board is pleased to announce a fully imputed final dividend of 17.5 cents per share. The final dividend has been
declared on the assumption that New Zealand is predominantly at Level 2 from the end of October "

What she said is open to interpretation but for what its worth my view of that is that currently New Zealand is already predominantly at level 2.

A very strong result. Looking ahead I have to concede today's covid numbers were disappointing which does open up the possibility of Auckland being in level 3 for some time to come but I note this will affect all retailers and WHS valuation looks truly compelling (on a historic normalized PE of ~ 8), by comparison to the others.

Would Joan dare try "Undeclaring" the dividend, if the northern centre with the elevated gambling joint is still showing
threatening Covid clouds though ?

It was good enough to declare that the Wage Subsidy was not needed and should be repaid back to Govt.. after all

[DonkeyKong]

Her exact words from the analyst presentation were :-

"The Board is pleased to announce a fully imputed final dividend of 17.5 cents per share. The final dividend has been
declared on the assumption that New Zealand is predominantly at Level 2 from the end of October "

What she said is open to interpretation but for what its worth my view of that is that currently New Zealand is already predominantly at level 2.

A very strong result. Looking ahead I have to concede today's covid numbers were disappointing which does open up the possibility of Auckland being in level 3 for some time to come but I note this will affect all retailers and WHS valuation looks truly compelling (on a historic normalized PE of ~ 8), by comparison to the others.

Exciting results today. Does anyone know if there is a recording of the presentation accessible? Or do they only make the slides accessible?

[Greekwatchdog]

For Bars review. Was already Out Perform.

OUTPERFORM
The Warehouse Group (WHS) reported a very strong FY21 result helped by COVID-19 tailwinds and further progress on
key strategic initiatives as evidenced in gross margin delivery and record levels of profitability. We think it is unlikely that
WHS can repeat FY21 profit levels over the foreseeable future, but recognise that management is showing clear execution
progress on its retail modernisation process across the group. This provides confidence that a reasonable proportion of the
margin gains achieved to-date will be sustainable over the medium term. While we accept that current COVID-19
restrictions will cloud near term performance, which may limit visibility on further business process success through FY22,
we are confident that WHS has found a new earnings base substantially higher than pre CVOID-19 levels. With WHS
trading at ~11x PE on our FY23 estimates, a discount to key regional peers, we maintain an OUTPERFORM rating.
What's changed?
Gross margins bonanza demonstrates tangible improvements
Gross margins have lifted significantly through FY21 which follows a more gentle upswing in recent years. Key drivers have included
(1) lower clearance activity from improvements in inventory aging and stock turns, (2) reduced promotional activity as the every day
low pricing (EDLP) strategy has been implemented, and (3) a stock provision release. The latter is non-recurring and will weigh on
FY22 margins. Though further underlying benefits should accrue over the medium term, offsetting potential competitive
pressures from a new ERP system due later next year with enhanced inventory management capabilities.
FY22 will be challenged; normalisation assumed in FY23
Lockdowns and other COVID-19 restrictions have impacted the start to FY22. Year-to-date sales for the first eight weeks are down
-22% against the prior year. While a significant temporary increase in on-line demand helps partly mitigate the impact of store
closures, and pent up demand helps when lockdown ends, we believe WHS faces a meaningful decline in profits in FY22. It has yet to
apply for a government wage subsidy and appears unlikely to do so given the prior social pressure to repay its 2020 subsidy.
Balance sheet robust
WHS ended FY21 with net cash of NZ$161m and inventory at 'normalised' levels. Available liquidity to weather the current lockdown
was NZ$491m at year end, though the company states that cash has reduced significantly since then given the reduction in sales. The
final dividend of 17.5c is subject to New Zealand being 'predominantly' at Alert Level 2 from the end of October.

[Rawz]

Why will FY22 be meaningfully less than FY21??

2021 is basically a repeat of 2020 with no travel and lockdowns.

If people have been lockdown and cannot spend and cannot travel.... retail is going to suck up the dollars...

X-mas trading period is going to be a record of the ages.

Disc. Hold WHS, MHJ & HLG.

[Beagle]

Thanks GWD, appreciated.

[allfromacell]

I ordered some things from the market yesterday at midday which was at the cheapest price I could find across any retailer in NZ and it arrived this morning.


Very impressive and easy process, really happy with the UI and shopping experience, I’ll be a returning customer.

[BlackPeter]

Exciting results today. Does anyone know if there is a recording of the presentation accessible? Or do they only make the slides accessible?

"Presentation" was more a reading session. Really - they only read off the slides in a telephone conference. No questions asked afterwards - i.e. if you just read the slides you have all the info.