Bored Australians send Adairs, Nick Scali guidance up, up, up

Bored Australians spent their lockdowns buying furniture and homewares.

Furniture store Adairs (ASX:ADH) says sales for the year should be between $385m and $390m, mainly from the eponymous brand and a little from the new online-only shop Mocka, which it bought in December for $75.5m in cash and scrip.

Half-year online sales surged 93 per cent and by 27 per cent across the whole company.

“Our omni channel strategy and focus on the home decorating and furnishing category has served us well during this period where our customers have spent significantly more time at home,” Adairs chief Mark Ronan said.

Australia’s largest online furniture store Temple & Webster (ASX:TPW) said yesterday half-year revenue was growing at 90 per cent versus the prior corresponding period, driven by strong growth in April and May.

Year-to-date revenue is up 68 per cent to $151.7m.

Nick Scali (ASX:NCK) expects sales in the September quarter to be 30 per cent higher, although it didn’t say which period it was comparing to.

The strong performance and expected 2021 half-year profit growth means the 25c interim dividend, which had been deferred until October, will now be paid as expected at the end of the month.

The company expects second-half profit to be 15-20 per cent higher than the same period last year. Half-year revenue is expected to come in between $260m and $263m.

Being an online retailer wasn’t an automatic guarantee of success however.

Matt Blatt, an almost 40-year-old company collapsed in June owning $11m to creditors.

Online retailer Kogan (ASX:KGN) bought the company’s IP for $4.4m in May and according to news reports Matt Blatt’s parent company was selling warehouse stock via the Greys Online auction service in April.

Matt Blatt had estimated realisable assets of $500,000 on May 22, according to ASIC documents.