The Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) share price is on the run this morning. This comes after the company released a positive trading update for the first half of FY21.
At market open, the retail conglomerate's shares shot up 17% to an all-time high of $26.32. At the time of writing, the Premier share price is trading up 15.9% at $26.06
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What did Premier announce?
With 3 weeks remaining until the end of the term, Premier advised it has continued its sales growth trajectory throughout the first half of FY21.
For the period ending 9 January, Premier revealed it has achieved total global sales of $716.9 million. This represents an increase of 5% on the same time last year, pushed by the rapid acceleration of online sales. The latter accounted for $146.2 million, reflecting a 60% jump over the prior corresponding period.
Total global like for like (LFL) sales also lifted 18%, with its Australia business reporting an increase of 26.2%.
In addition, the company highlighted its strong cost management, negotiating with key landlords on rent reductions due to the COVID-19 environment. Premier went on to discuss that at different times including up until today, several of its locations worldwide have been temporarily closed, affecting staff and loss of potential sales.
However, despite the trading restrictions and provided no significant impacts occur in the final weeks, the company is projecting earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to swell. Current estimates put EBIT over the entire 27-week period to come in the range of $221 million to $233 million. This is an increase of between 75% and 85% on prior's H1 FY20 performance.
Overall, Premier said gross profit was tracking well ahead of last year's result over the same timeframe. It further reiterated that it maintains a healthy balance sheet and will release its H1 FY21 results in late March.
About the Premier share price
The Premier share price has surged from last year's March lows of $8.13. Reaching an all-time high today, this represents a gain of 223%.
At current, Premier has a market capitalisation of $4.1 billion and a price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 30.
