Postie Plus posts full-year loss on costs

Thursday 27th September 2012

Postie Plus Group, the clothing chain, reported a full-year loss after costs related to the sale of its Babycity business and relocation of marketing and distribution to Auckland.

The net loss was $183,000 in the 12 months ended Aug. 5, from a profit of $656,000 a year earlier, the Auckland-based company said in a statement. Sales fell to $111 million, just ahead of the level it flagged on Aug. 31, from $115.7 million a year earlier.

In May, the retailer said it was in breach of bank covenants and in August chief executive Ron Boskill said he would step down in January. Shareholders in May approved the sale of 11 of its 18 Babycity stores to a company run by former LV Martin manager Trevor Douthett. Babycity "has not contributed sufficiently to our bottom line unlike Postie," the company said in April.

"We took the hit now with costs associated with the sale of Babycity which no longer fitted our business model and the decision to recruit new retail expertise, outsource our distribution systems and processes to a new purpose-built centre at Mangere airport and begin a progressive shift of key marketing and other functions to Auckland," said chairman Richard Punter.

Shares of Postie Plus fell 4.2 percent to 23 cents and are down 7.7 percent this year.

Excluding one-time costs, the company reported a full-year normalised profit of $493,000. The company will pay a final dividend of 1 cent a share on Dec. 14 to shareholders on the register as at Dec. 7.

Punter said the retailer will "focus the business on extending the store and on-line presence of the iconic Postie brand, in order to be competitively positioned when consumer confidence recovered."

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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