Michael Hill (NZX:MHJ): What were the highlights of Annual General Meeting?

Highlights

• Michael Hill continued to witness a strong performance despite the impact of present lockdowns.
• The Company reported strong same store sales growth, margin expansion, and a surge in digital sales in the first quarter of FY22.
• MHJ plans to continue a strong business momentum until the Christmas trading period by implementing its strategic initiatives for FY22.
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Michael Hill International Limited (NZX: MHJ, ASX:MHJ) is involved in the manufacturing, wholesale, and distribution of jewellery across NZ, Australia, Canada, and the US.

The Group released its AGM presentation on Wednesday.

The Group delivered strong results in FY21 with all metrics moving up due to a resilient team and various strategic initiatives taken by MHJ.

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Michael Hill reported a significant increase in NPAT (+1382%) and EBIT (+414%) numbers in FY21 compared to FY20. This came despite the business seeing a combined impact of over 10,000 lost store trading days as a result of the Government-mandated lockdowns, and some permanent store closures.

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The Group declared a final dividend of AU$3cps, taking the total dividend to AU$4.5cps for FY21. The decision was taken after considering business performance, the strength of the balance sheet, while also recognising the risk of ongoing trading disturbances.

Strong performance in Q1FY22

Michael Hill also reported a positive trading update for Q1 FY22 on 13 October. The Group experienced a 15.5% rise in same store sales and a margin growth of 100 to 200bps in all its markets in the quarter compared to Q1 FY21. In addition, digital sales clocked a massive growth of 58.2% in the quarter as compared to Q1 FY21.

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Cautious cost control management, increased margins along with strong same store sales, digital growth and investment in omnichannel offerings eased the impact of lockdown curbs on MHJ’s earnings.

Since reopening, the Group’s Canadian business has been doing pretty well, delivering remarkable sales and margin growth every week. The Group is awaiting a progressive reopening of stores in NSW, Victoria, and Auckland.

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On 27 October, at the time of writing, MHJ was trading at NZ$1.05, down 1.87%.

Road ahead

MHJ is well positioned with a strong balance sheet and has a high-performing leadership team to deliver on MHJ’s growth and transformation agenda.

The Group is targeting a broader customer base by transitioning its messaging from discount-led promotions to quality brand-led campaigns while also producing higher average transaction value and margin growth.