Harvey Norman sales soar by 170%

Sales at Irish outlets of Australian retailer Harvey Norman soared to €70.6 million in the second half of 2006, an increase of more than 170 per cent on the same period in 2005.

The company's Irish arm, which has opened several new outlets in the past year, has also reported a pretax profit of 3.08 million Australian dollars (€1.83 million) for the six-month period. This is the first time it has stepped into positive financial territory.

Harvey Norman said sales at its Irish stores grew by €44.5 million in the second half of 2006, as turnover from a number of new stores, such as an outlet in Cork, filtered through to results.

It said sales were also boosted by revenue from four smaller electrical and computer stores that opened last year, and from a premises in Limerick that began trading in May.

Two other stores, in Naas and Drogheda, also opened last year.

The retailer added that sales at its two longest established Irish outlets, at Swords and Dundalk, rose as Harvey Norman's brand recognition in the market strengthened. Those stores opened in 2003.

Harvey Norman plans to open additional outlets in Ireland this year - in Limerick, Blanchardstown, Tralee and Mullingar. The expansion should boost the company's footprint in the State significantly.

Overall, the group reported turnover of A$2.71 billion for the six months to the end of December, an increase of 16.1 per cent on the same period in 2005. Like-for-like sales were up 7.1 per cent.

The retailer posted a pretax profit of almost A$270 million for the six months to the end of last December, an increase of more than 35 per cent on the same period in 2005.

However, that included an exceptional gain of A$41 million from the flotation of financing firm FlexiGroup, while a further A$27 million was derived from a property revaluation increment.

Harvey Norman owns 49 stores in Australia, while another 189 operate as franchises.

It has a further 49 stores in countries including Ireland, New Zealand, Slovenia, Malaysia and Singapore.