The Dusk (ASX:DSK) share price is up today. Here's why

The dusk share price (ASX: DSK) is trading higher today after the company reported record results. Here's a rundown of the HY performance.

Gretchen Kennedy

Gretchen grew up in a small Connecticut town where she learned to read The Wall Street Journal as part of the grade six enrichment program. She moved to Australia in 2002, earned a Master of Arts (Professional Writing) and went on to spend eight years writing on Wall Street. In June 2018, Gretchen returned to Australia and has since developed a keen interest in all things ASX. In December 2020, she started writing for the Motley Fool. Gretchen's usually writing something, reading a book or chasing her dogs around.

Published February 25, 2021 1:57 pm AEDT

The Dusk Group Ltd (ASX: DSK) share price is trading higher today following the release of the company's half-year results.

After opening at $3.11, the dusk share price has lost a little ground through morning trade. It's currently trading at $2.94, up 1.38%.

Dusk listed on the ASX quite recently in November 2020, and despite challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic during this time, the specialty retailer still managed to achieve record sales and earnings.

Let's take a look at the highlights for the half-year ended 27 December 2020.

A happy businessman pointing up, inidicating a rise in share price — Image source: Getty Images

Dusk reports record sales and earnings

In today's results, dusk reported revenue for the first half of FY21 (1H21) was $90.9 million, compared to $58.6 million in 1H20.

The company – which sells candles, home decor, home fragrances and gift products in 117 stores Australia-wide and online – increased its profits by 160.4% to $16.9 million for the period. In comparison, dusk posted a $6.5 million profit in 1H20.

Statutory earnings before interest and taxes for 1H21 totalled $25 million compared to $9.9 million in 1H20.

Earnings per share (EPS) more than doubled, rising from 11 cents in 1H20 to 27 cents in 1H21.

The board declared an interim fully franked dividend of 15 cents per share.

Store sales were up 44% during 1H21, and online sales soared 120% higher.

Dusk also advised that during the first six weeks of 2H21, total sales have risen by 55.5%.

Insight from the CEO

Commenting on the results, managing director and CEO Peter King said:

Dusk's strong 1H FY21 results were generated by swift decision making and focused execution over the period. A near trebling of EBIT vs the pcp despite the lockdown of our 20 Melbourne metro stores points to the resilient teamwork of the dusk organisation and continued execution of its business plan in store and online despite a challenging operating environment…

For the business to bounce back from forced store closures and stand downs in FY20 to register these record results is a testament to the dusk team in all 117 stores, online and customer support office."

The business acknowledged the uncertainties still presented by COVID-19. Therefore, the board elected not to provide full-year FY21 guidance at this time.

Dusk share price snapshot

Since the company's initial public offering (IPO) in November, the dusk share price has rocketed up 80.69%.

The company has a current market capitalisation of $174.4 million, with 62.3 million shares outstanding.

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