Temple & Webster's profits soar nearly 500% in online shopping splurge
Homewares and furniture retailer Temple & Webster has seen its earnings shoot up by nearly 500 per cent as consumers stuck at home during the coronavirus crisis went on an online shopping spree to improve their living rooms.
At its full-year results announcement on Tuesday, the online-only retailer said its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) came in at $8.5 million for the year to June 30, a 483 per cent increase on the $1.5 million reported in the previous financial year.
Temple and Webster CEO Mark Coulter says this year's results are pleasing in the face of tough retail conditions.Credit:Eamon Gallagher
Sales also boomed, jumping 74 per cent to $176.3 million. Volumes doubled across the second half of the year as online shopping became the new normal in the pandemic.
Widely considered one of the worst IPOs of 2016, Temple & Webster has since become somewhat of a market darling for investors, with shares up nearly 200 per cent since the start of the year and the company now worth nearly $1 billion.
It's joined a clutch of other ASX-listed online retailers such as Kogan and Redbubble, who have emerged as major beneficiaries of housebound Australians shopping more online in recent months.
Temple & Webster's active customers grew 77 per cent on last year to around 480,000, with around 140,000 of those first-time shoppers.
"Many customers are trying online shopping for their homes for the first time out of necessity," chief executive Mark Coulter said, noting the results were especially strong considering the tough retail conditions. "The advantages of being the online market leader are apparent as we continue to grow our market share."
For the first four weeks of the new financial year, trading has continued to be strong, with July's sales growth in line with the 130 per cent increase reported across the fourth quarter.
Cash on hand for the retailer was $38.1 million at the end of the financial year, which excludes the money from its $40 million capital raising earlier this month. The company has not indicated what it hopes to use its cash reserves for, other than making additional investments in growth.
A "small investment" in an unnamed offshore startup developing artificial intelligence interior design tools is the only expenditure noted by the business.
More to come.