JB Hi-Fi profits up, Newcrest affirms spending cuts, as profit losses continue; Midday Roundup

JB Hi-Fi has posted an 11.22% rise in its 2013 full-year profits, as sales in Australia grew by 6.3% to $3.14 billion.

It’s the first annual profit growth the electronics retailers has experienced since 2010.

Positive momentum in the second half of 2012/2013 resulted in comparable sales increasing 3.5% and total sales rising 10.9%.

Despite the positive results, JB Hi-Fi’s software component of the business, which includes music, movies and games, was in the negative, with sales falling 2.6% overall and 8.9% on a comparable store basis.

The retailer expects to grow sales this financial year by between 6% and 8% and intends to open 12 new stores.

“We have seen a good start to FY14 with the continuation of the positive comparable sales seen in the second half of FY13,” JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart said in a statement.

“We see good growth opportunities ahead with a strong line-up of new products planned for the first half of FY14, growth from our new store roll out program and the expansion of the home appliance categories.”

Newcrest affirms spending cuts, as profit losses continue

Newcrest Mining has posted a $5.778 billion full-year loss, as its writedowns blew out to $6.229 billion.

The gold miner’s underlying profit dropped to $451 million, down from $1.084 billion in June last year.

Partially attributable to the falling price of golf and lower metal prices, Newcrest also posted a 15% drop in revenue to $3.775 billion.

Newcrest will not pay a dividend and it said in a statement it would delist from the Toronto Stock Exchange this quarter.

Capital expenditure will be cut to $1 billion this financial year, down from $1.946 billion in 2012/2013.

Shares

Aussie shares have opened positively this morning, despite predictions of a flat start to trading.

The S&P/ASX200 benchmark was up 18.9 points to 5074.1, just before midday.

The market was buoyed by strong gains in the materials sector, which was up 252.2 points to 9,770.9.