Premier Investments is once again highlighting the strength of the Peter Alexander brand, as the business reports its H1 FY21 results.
The sleepwear retailer delivered record results for Premier during the half, clocking record sales of $207.7 million, up 43.4% on the comparable period.
According to Premier, the design-led product and the group's decision to be in stock for Q2 and Christmas, enabled the brand to deliver increased full-price sales with much less promotional activity, helping to drive higher gross margin in the half.
"In the midst of a global pandemic and despite the considerable uncertainty at the time, we made the critical decision in mid-2020 to invest in increased inventory for the key summer, Black Friday, Christmas and January sales period," Premier Retail CEO Mark McInnes said.
"This decision ensured we were in-stock to deliver significantly higher sales and gross margin in 1H21.
"Those same inventory investment and in-stock strategies have continued into 2H21 and are providing a foundation for the sales and gross margin momentum we are currently experiencing," he said.
Peter Alexander experienced sales increases across all channels and product categories during the half.
According to the business, the long-term investment in childrenswear and P.A. Plus has continued to deliver strong results, with childrenswear 1H21 sales up 51% on a LFL basis and P.A. Plus up 67% on a LFL basis.
Meanwhile, Premier's Apparel Brands segment, which covers Just Jeans, Jay Jays, Jacqui E, Portmans and Dotti, delivered like-for-like sales growth of 18.5% and overall sales growth of 10.4% compared to H1 FY20.
Premier reports that its apparel brands "have significantly outperformed the broader clothing market," after delivering like-for-like sales growth of 38.6% from 1H18 to 1H21.
During the first half, Premier also experienced a boost in its online channel, recording $156.7 million in sales, up 61.3%.
The Group's online business contributed 20% of total sales in the half.
"Premier’s 2013 strategic decision to invest in its 100% owned Australian distribution centre has allowed the Group to remain agile and to scale up its online fulfillment in response to unprecedented customer demand providing the Group with significant operating leverage," the business said of its online sales.
"Plans have commenced to expand this facility in calendar 2022.
"The Group today has world class customer facing websites and will continue to make major investments in its people, its information technology, digital marketing capability and distribution centres to maximise the increasing customer preference to shop online," Premier said.
Overall, Premier Investments delivered statutory NPAT $188.2 million, up 88.9% on 1H20.
Premier Retail delivered a 7.2% increase in global sales to $784.6 million, while global like-for-like sales were up 18.2%.
Premier Retail's Gross Margin was up 286 bps, its EBIT increased 88.5% to $237.8 million and its EBIT margin was up 1,308 bps.
"Throughout this devastating COVID-19 global health crisis, our absolute priority has and continues to be the safety and wellbeing of our teams and our customers," Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew commented.
"This announcement is a testament to the skills and dedication of our entire global team.
"To have delivered these record results in a very difficult and volatile environment is a truly outstanding achievement," he said.