How are these 2 NZX retail stocks gearing up for Christmas?

Highlights

• Retailers await Christmas as they see the highest sales this season.
• Briscoe Group delivered strong sales for the 39-week period ended 31 October 2021.
• HLG reported that its sales increased 21.9% on pcp to $350.76 million for the year ended 1 August 2021.

Retailers eagerly wait for the holiday season to gain the maximum business from shoppers who buy gifts for their relatives and family. However, Christmas shopping in the pandemic era isn't what it once was.

After months of lockdown, some Aucklanders have already unleashed their stifled need for retail healing, with reports of hundreds of people lining up outside stores and malls when retail resumed last month.

Image source: © 2021 Kalkine Media, Data source- EODHD/Others

However, retailers will have to battle supply chain woes and fears of the new variant of COVID-19 to affirm shoppers to buy in spite of limited deals.

Let’s have a look at how these 2 retail stocks are doing and their plans for the upcoming holiday season.

Briscoe Group Limited (NZX:BGP; ASX:BGP)

Briscoe Group functions in the homeware, sporting goods, and retail sector. The Group provided a sales update for Q3 ended 31 October 2021, reporting the total Group sales of $496.9 million, up 9.52% on $435.7 million for the first 3 quarters of 2020.

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Briscoe’s sporting goods segment witnessed a rise of 9.5% while its Homeware segment saw an increase of 9.53% in the period.

However, the Group’s sales were undesirably affected by nearly $17 million in the last 2 weeks of August due to the national Level 4 lockdown imposed on 18 August.

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Briscoe expects an NPAT of up to $85 million for FY22 despite disruptions seen in Q3.

On 7 December, BGP ended the trading session at $6.71, down 1.03% from its previous close.

Hallenstein Glasson Holdings Limited (NZX:HLG)

Retailer of menswear and womenswear, Hallenstein Glasson, confirmed on 26 November a final dividend of 24cps, which will be paid on 17 December 2021. This announcement came as all HLG stores throughout NZ and Australia are now trading again.

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The Group had earlier deferred its dividend decision until the lockdown was removed and its stores began trading again.

HLG delivered sales of $350.76 million and NPAT of $33.32 million for the year ended 1 August 2021, up 21.9% and 20% on pcp, respectively. The Group persists to take steps to protect liquidity, most notably controlling stock levels and costs across the business.

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On 7 December, HLG ended the trading session at $7.39, up 0.14% from its previous close.

Bottom Line

It remains to be seen how the Omicron variant and supply chain issues will fare for the retailers in the coming season.

(NOTE: Currency is reported in NZ Dollar unless stated otherwise)