Premier Investments, parent company to The Just Group, has reported that global sales for the first 17 weeks of 1H23 are up 24.9% on pre-COVID 1H20 sales.
The company has also said it achieved record sales during Black Friday 2022, including acheiving its highest ever global online sales for a trading week.
Premier Retail last provided an update on 1H23 sales momentum on October 28, 2022, where it found that global sales for the first 12 weeks of 1H23 were up 42.8% on 1H22, citing that in 1H22 it had lost 42,675 trading days due to store closures.
Over the last 5 weeks, Premier cycled these 1H22 store re-openings, where it said that demand surged after a nearly 4-month long lockdown. Global sales for the past 5 weeks were largely in line with last year.
Premier Retail also reported that it has managed its logistics program and is prepared for the 1H23 key trading period ahead.
“The group remains well positioned to take full advantage of the current momentum through the remaining critical first half trading periods of Christmas, Boxing Day and ‘back to school’ to drive sales and earnings growth on last year,” Premier Chairman Solomon Lew said.
Premier Retail has a global network of over 1,100 bricks and mortar stores, 15 websites, and centralised distribution centres across four countries, with its Australian centre fully
owned by the company.
In Premier’s FY22 annual report, the company said that over 75% of its retail store network either have their leases expiring in FY23 or are in holdover.
In his report, Lew said the Group does not seek to close stores, but maintains an “unrelenting” focus on store profitability.
“Our landlords recognise the long-term strength of Premier and its seven iconic brands,” he said.
“With their support, opportunities exist to refresh, upgrade and or expand stores across all of Premier’s brands over the next three to five years as we simultaneously continue to invest in our online potential.”