Outlook narrow even as sales up at lifestyle retailer Foschini
31 Aug '06
3 min read
Turning to Foschini's achievements for the past financial year, Osrin pointed out that the 12 months ended March 2006 had been excellent for the company, having attained 28.8 percent growth in headline earnings per share, following compounded growth over the previous four years of 63.7 percent per annum.
Some of the highlights included record sales of 6.4 billion rand, an increase of 21.8 percent over the previous year, and an operating margin of 24.3 percent, the highest ever achieved. Its annual dividend rose by an impressive 34.1 percent to 220 cents per share from 164 cents a year earlier, as the group reduced its dividend cover to 2.1 times from 2.2 times attributable headline earnings per share previously.
For the first time, the retailer's net profit after tax exceeded the one billion rand mark, while net profit before tax reached almost 1.5 billion rand.
"Our R1.49 billion pre-tax profit best illustrates the phenomenal growth Foschini has achieved over the past few years when you compare it with the R282.8 million rand we recorded in 2002," Osrin told shareholders.
The group's return on equity improved further during the year, to 35.3 percent an impressive level by world standards, he noted. Meanwhile, gearing remained relatively low at 16.9 percent, below its medium term target of 20 percent.
The Foschini Group consists of 13 trading divisions, dealing in lifestyle products that range from fashion, jewellery, accessories, cosmetics, sporting and outdoor apparel and equipment to homewares.
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