The Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) share price has been a steady mover in 2021, up more than 18% year-to-date.
Shares in the automotive and apparel retailer will be within 5% of all-time highs leading into its FY21 results tomorrow.
Reporting season has been a volatile experience for retail shares, with the likes of JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH) opening 1.28% lower on the day of its results, before an afternoon rally to close 2.50% higher.
Investors might want to note a similar occurrence for the Super Retail share price during its 1H FY21 results.
What did Super retail report for H1 FY21?
It was a volatile trading session for the Super Retail share price following the release of its half-year results on 17 February.
Super Retail delivered an upbeat half-year result with total group sales of $1.78 billion. This was a 23% increase on the prior corresponding period (pcp).
Pleasingly, the company was adapting well to the COVID-19 environment. It delivered an 87% surge in group online sales to $237.4 million, representing 13% of overall sales.
In addition, click and collect sales increased 74% to $107.8 million, while home delivery sales increased by 100% to $129.6 million.
Super Retail CEO and group managing director Anthony Heraghty commented on the robust performance.
"Our omni-retail capability has been instrumental in enabling the Group to pivot towards shifting consumer spending habits and deliver profitable growth, underpinned by strong digital sales," he said.
The half-year results also noted that year-to-date (weeks 1 to 33) group like-for-like sales had increased 25.2%.
"It has been a positive start to the second half, with strong trading across all of our brands," Heraghty said. "We remain well positioned to benefit from positive consumer sentiment and elevated consumer demand in the domestic outdoor leisure and travel sectors."
However, he also flagged that "we do expect current levels of consumer spending will moderate when government stimulus is phased out and international travel restrictions ease".
Super Retail share price snapshot
The Super Retail share price sold off sharply in early trade after the company announced its half-year results, down 3.97% to lows of $11.12.
However, buying activity would pick up in the afternoon, rallying the shares to a positive close, up 2.59% to $11.88.
At the time of writing today, Super Retail shares are flat, trading at $13.05 apiece.
