Despite losing 3,709 days of store trading during the first half, Michael Hill has come out of the half boasting some positive results.
While weathering the impact of government-mandated store closures in all markets, Michael Hill managed to deliver a 6.3% increase in group same store sales to $312.1 million.
By region, the Australian market proved the strongest, reporting 12% in same store sales growth, followed by Canada (3.6%) and New Zealand (2.8%).
Speaking on the results, CEO Daniel Bracken praised the business for its efforts throughout the half.
"I’m particularly pleased with our results given the challenging environment for our business - continuous store closures throughout the half, significant decline in foot traffic in all markets, the material impact of 3,709 lost trading days, and not a single day of all stores open.
"In spite of all these obstacles, to deliver this significant performance improvement is truly outstanding.
"Our comparable profits increased by 41%, due to the focus and energy of our team and the transformational change agenda at Michael Hill," he said.
Key elements of this transformational agenda includes a focus on loyalty, digital sales and omnichannel initiatives as well as improving growth and margin.
During the period, the jeweller's loyalty program, Brilliance, grew to over 480,000 members - an increase of 200% for the half.
And while store sales were at the whim of COVID closures, the digital channel proved strong, delivering an 102% increase in sales to $18.5 million, accounting for 5.8% of total sales.
Branded collections continue be a source of growth for the business, with these collections representing 38.4% of total sales in H1 FY21, compared to 35.4% in the first half of FY20.
Group gross margin increased to 62.7% in the half compared to 61.7% in H1 FY20, while absorbing the impact of the increasing gold price.
"I am very proud of our company metrics - retail margins up 200bps, costs down, inventory way down and an outstanding cash position at the close of the half," Bracken added.
"The digitisation and elevation of our brand is clearly resonating with our customers, as are our key strategic initiatives across loyalty, retail fundamentals and product newness.
"Michael Hill is a business that has been focused on transformation, and while the global challenges have significantly impacted operations, and continue to do so on a daily basis, the performance across all metrics proves we have built strong foundations for growth," he said.
Overall, Michael Hill reported an 82.1% increase in statutory net profit after tax to $39.0 million and an EBIT of $58.9 million, up 66.9%.
During the half, revenue declined 2.9% to $319.9 million and gross profit also slipped 1.5% to $200.5 million.
Michael Hill closed out the half with 289 stores, $170.6 million in inventory and $90.3 million in net cash/(debt).