The Nick Scali Limited (ASX: NCK) share price is on the move today. This comes after the company provided an update to its profit guidance. At the time of writing, the Nick Scali share price is up 7.1% to $10.57. In earlier trade, Nick Scali shares reached as high as $10.81, smashing their previous all time high of $10.05 reached late last month.
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What was announced?
The Nick Scali share price is surging higher today following the company's latest announcement.
According to this morning's release, Nick Scali upgraded its profit guidance for the first-half of the 2021 financial year.
For the period ending 31 December, the furniture retailer expects unaudited net profit to come in at $40.5 million. This represents roughly a 100% improvement on underlying profit from the same time last year. Nick Scali credited the result to better-than-expected container availability which led to increased delivery volumes throughout November and December.
Total written sales also increased, with the second quarter delivering a 58% lift on the prior comparable period. This was due to the reopening of the company's Melbourne metropolitan stores and a successful Black November campaign. In light of this, Nick Scali said that total written sales orders surpassed delivered sales by about $20 million.
Finishing the year with a record sales performance, the company anticipates revenue and profit growth to flow into the second half of 2021. However, Nick Scali did caution that this is reliant on no disruptions affecting its store network or supply chain.
In addition, Nick Scali has continued to expand its retail network to contribute to its underlying profit for FY21. New store openings at Wairau Park in Auckland, and Bennetts Green in New South Wales, are reporting strong sales.
Nick Scali share price snapshot
Over the past 12 months, the Nick Scali share price has risen by more than 50%, significantly outperforming the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO).
During March, when COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the global economy, Nick Scali shares hit a low of $2.65. However, since then, the Nick Scali share price has rebounded nearly 300% to reach today's new highs.
The company has a current market capitalisation of around $801 million.
