JB Hi-Fi Limited (JBH) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

Good morning, and welcome to the J.B. Hi-Fi Group 2026 Half Year Results Investor Conference Call. Today's call will commence with a short presentation from J.B. Hi-Fi's Group CEO, Nick Wells; and Group CFO, David Giansalvo. Following the presentation, we will open to questions from investors, and the call will conclude around 11:30 a.m. We will welcome representatives of the media to this call and as with previous calls, I remind you that we will only be taking questions from investors. I will now introduce and hand over to J.B. Hi-Fi's Group CEO, Nick Wells.

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. And as always, thank you for your interest in the business. We will talk through the presentation and then allow some time for questions. I will turn to Slide 4, titled Group Model. You'll all be familiar with this slide, so just a few comments. We have 3 great brands that are all very complementary, JB Hi-Fi, the Good Guys and our most recent addition, e&s. Each brand has its own purpose and a clear focus on particular categories and segments. JB is focused on technology and entertainment. Good Guys is a leader in home appliances, particularly with entry to mid-market products and really aims at the replacement customer, while e&s is dominant in premium home appliances and bathroom products with a strong focus on the renovation and construction markets. All of our brands go to market across multiple channels with stores online, over the phone, chat and commercial channels. Our value proposition in each brand is simple, the best brands, a big range and low prices. We are absolutely known and trusted for value. And with our passionate and knowledgeable team members we consistently deliver exceptional customer service. All of this is supported by our competitive advantages, which I'll talk to on the next slide. So turning to Slide 5 and our 4 key competitive managers. First, scale and diversification. We have strong and engaged supplier relationships, both globally and locally that recognize our scale. We have a large, engaged and diverse customer base, which gives us the ability to execute promotions and new product launches at scale and high-traffic websites, which provides significant marketing opportunities and reach. Our multi-brand approach provides us the ability to have diverse and differentiated offers with a wide range of categories and different go-to-market approaches. Second, low-cost operating model. We are a constant focus on productivity and minimizing unnecessary expenditure. The efficiency that we get through this model allows us to maintain low prices and drive value for our customers. Our group functions enable the business to drive efficiencies and spread investments across a large cost base. Third, multichannel. This is ultimately about giving customers absolute choice on how they wish to shop with us. Our stores provide easy access to customers to transact, but are also destinations for discovery and advice. Online is used for both research and convenience purchasing and phone, chat or video gives customers who are not in store the ability to access staff knowledge and advice along with price negotiability. And lastly and importantly, people and culture. Our knowledgeable and passionate team members provide exceptional customer service. Our dynamic and flexible business model allows the business to pivot quickly and adapt to any changing market conditions, and we have an unrelenting focus on health and safety. Turning to Slide 6. We are committed to having a positive impact on our people, communities and environment and generating long-term sustainable growth. For our people, we are focused on supporting them and ensuring a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace whilst always looking for ways to provide our team members with flexibility and opportunities to grow and develop. For our communities, we seek to make a positive impact in the communities in which our team members live and work and work with our supplier partners to protect and further human rights. And for the environment, we are committed to minimizing the impact that our operations may have on the natural environment and proactively reducing our waste and our emissions. Turning to the half year '26 group performance and starting on Slide 8. We will talk to the results in more detail as we move through the presentation, but we are really pleased to report record sales and strong earnings for half year '26 as we built on the momentum of the previous year. Total sales were up 7.3% to $6.1 billion. EBIT was up 8.1% to $454 million. NPAT was up 7.1% to $305.8 million. EPS was up 7.1% to $2.797 per share, and we today declared an interim dividend of $2.10 per share, up $0.40 per share or 23.5%, representing 75% of NPAT. We'll take Slide 9 as read and turn to the divisional performance, starting with JB Hi-Fi Australia on Slide 10. It was pleasing to see continued strong growth in sales and earnings in JB Hi-Fi Australia. I'll turn to Slide 11 and cover in greater detail. For JB Hi-Fi Australia, total sales increased by 6.3% to $4.12 billion, with comparable sales up 5%, driven by continued customer demand for technology and consumer electronics and strong promotional execution. Mobile phones continue to perform well, particularly Apple. Unit sales have been strong across the majority of brands, and we've also seen ASP growth at a handset level. Small appliances, the momentum in this category remains really strong with coffee, robotic vacuum cleaners and kitchen appliances all performing well. Our newly expanded personal care categories have had strong results and new innovative products from brands like Ninja have really resonated with our customers. Games Hardware continues to benefit from the release in late FY '25 of the Nintendo Switch 2. In computers, it was pleasing to see growth with Apple performing well again, but also solid results from AI-enabled devices and gaming PCs. Within fitness, wearables continue to perform strongly, but we've also seen successful results from our newly expanded health and well-being categories. Online sales increased by 11.2% to $759 million or 18.4% of total sales. Gross profit increased by 6.9% to $904.5 million with gross margin up 11 basis points to 21.95%, driven by improvements in key product categories. Cost of doing business was 11.81%, up 5 basis points and in absolute terms grew 6.8% with continued disciplined cost control and investment in new stores and strategic initiatives. Our EBIT increased by 7.7% to $340.9 million with EBIT margin up 11 basis points to 8.27%. On to Slide 12 and JB Hi-Fi New Zealand performance. It was pleasing to see our performance improve in New Zealand and to record strong sales and earnings growth, having been investing in growing the business in that market over the past few years. I'll turn to Slide 13 and cover it in greater detail. So JB Hi-Fi New Zealand, total sales increased by 32.6% to NZD 268.6 million with comparable sales up 20.2% as the business continues to resonate with customers and expand its reach. Like Australia, we have seen strong growth from mobile phones, computers and small appliances. And in audio, we've seen strong growth from headphones, sound bars and party speakers. Online sales increased by 47.7% to NZD 47.8 million or 17.8% of total sales. Gross profit increased by 32.8% to NZD 45.8 million with gross margin up 2 basis points to 17.05%. Cost of doing business was 12.73%, down 110 basis points and in absolute terms grew 22% with continued investment in new stores and strategic initiatives. Operating leverage from strong sales growth and disciplined cost control resulted in EBIT of NZD 4.5 million, up 104.5% with EBIT margin up 59 basis points to 1.69%. Now turning to The Good Guys on Slide 14. Again, it was pleasing to see strong sales and earnings growth. I'll turn to Slide 15 and cover in greater detail. In The Good Guys, total sales increased by 4.1% to $1.58 billion with comparable sales up 4%, driven by continued customer demand for home appliance products and supported by well-executed Black Friday and Boxing Day promotional periods, which drove the strong Q2 sales results. Portable Appliances growth was led by coffee machines and like JB Hi-Fi, the new Ninja products. Floorcare continues to show strong growth, underpinned by growth in robotic vacuums. Cooking growth was driven by growth in in-built cooking and range hoods. Refrigeration saw growth in French door refrigeration with consumers shifting into larger capacity models as well as volume growth in wine cabinets. Laundry growth was led by the shift into larger volume washers and combo washers as well as heat pump dryers. Online sales increased by 14% to $266.1 million or 16.8% of total sales. Gross profit increased by 5% to $368.8 million with gross margin up 20 basis points to 23.32% driven by improvements in key product categories. Cost of doing business was 13.58%, down 1 basis point and in absolute terms grew 4% with continued disciplined cost control. EBIT increased by 8% to $107.4 million with EBIT margin up 24 basis points to 6.79%. Now turning to e&s on Slide 16. In half year '26, we've remained focused on integrating e&s into the broader group and investing in the systems, processes and capability to set the business up for future growth. I will turn to Slide 17 and cover in greater detail. In e&s, total sales for the 6 months to 31 December '25 were $144.8 million. In half year ' 25, the group consolidated four months sales and as a result, on a statutory basis, total sales were up 56.8%. For comparative purposes, for the full 6 months, total sales were up 2.9% with comparable sales down 0.1%. Gross profit was $43.4 million, with gross margin at 29.96%, up 261 basis points, driven by sales mix. Cost of doing business was 25.26%, up 283 basis points, driven by investments in new stores and the commercial division. EBIT was $1.7 million, in line with our expectations as the business invests in strategic initiatives. I will now hand over to Dave for the balance sheet and cash flow.

Thanks, Nick. On Slide 19, the balance sheet and starting with inventory. Inventory was $1.41 billion, up 6.7% or $88.4 million year-on-year and in line with sales growth. Inventory turnover was down 21 basis points to 6.93x. Payables, which would ordinarily move in line with inventory, were up 1.7% or $20 million year-on-year, cycling an elevated payables position last year. As a result, net working capital was negative $67 million, up $97.9 million year-on-year and has returned to more normal levels. Slide 20 highlights on the cash flow statement. Operating cash flow and operating cash conversion, whilst down year-on-year due to the normalization of working capital, continue to be strong. CapEx was $46.9 million, up 20.7% or $8 million year-on-year with investment in the store portfolio, online and strategic initiatives. Dividends paid of $224.1 million, which includes the FY '25 final dividend and the FY '25 special dividend of $1.00 per share or $109.3 million. Net cash was $489.5 million. In line with prior years, net cash at 31 December is seasonally high. On Slide 21, capital management. As announced in August 2025, from FY '26, the Board has increased the dividend payout ratio from 65% to a range of 70% to 80% of NPAT. As a result, the interim dividend is $2.10 per share, fully franked, up $0.40 per share or 23.5% and represents 75% of NPAT. The record date for the interim dividend is the 27th of February, with payment to be made on the 13th of March. The group continues to maintain a strong balance sheet, and the Board will continue to review the group's capital structure with a focus on maximizing returns to shareholders and maintaining balance sheet strength and flexibility. I'll now hand back to Nick for the January trading update.

Thanks, Dave. So turning to Slide 23 and the group trading update. For the period 1 Jan '26 to 31 Jan 2026, total sales growth for JB Hi-Fi Australia was 4% with comparable sales growth of 2.4%. Total sales growth for JB Hi-Fi New Zealand was 26.4% with comparable sales growth of 16.7%. Total sales growth for The Good Guys was 2.7% with comparable sales growth also 2.7% and total sales growth for e&s was negative 4.6% with comparable sales growth of negative 7.9%. Whilst we're pleased to see sales growth continue in January in JB and The Good Guys, particularly cycling strong sales in the prior year, we remain cautious given the uncertainty in the retail market and continued competitive activity. Now turning to Slide 25 and our group focus areas. We remain focused on 4 key areas and starting with retail execution in the top right-hand corner. In a competitive retail environment, our strong retail execution remains essential. We will continue to actively demonstrate improve value to our customers. We'll keep our operating model simple and efficient, focusing on the metrics that matter, driving operational improvements and reinvesting those efficiencies into customer-facing roles while continuing to enhance customer engagement and evolve our in-store experience. Second is multichannel. We'll continue to strengthen our multichannel capability, leveraging our significant online traffic and expanding our marketplace offer. Our membership programs will remain a focus, delivering personalization at scale. At the same time, we'll ensure consistent customer experiences across all touch points and stay connected with shoppers however their shopping journeys evolve. Third, brand reach. We'll continue to expand our store network across the group. In FY '26, we will open 3 JB Hi-Fi New Zealand stores, 1 new e&s store and 4 new JB Hi-Fi Australia stores. We have closed 1 JB Hi-Fi Australian store and completed 1 major store relocation in The Good Guys, and we'll complete one relocation in New Zealand. Our commercial businesses will continue to grow as we expand our customer base and strengthen our position across the market. And finally, supply chain. Our investment in building and maintaining a fit-for-purpose supply chain network is ongoing. We will continue to focus on delivering best-in-class delivery options for our customers across all of our channels, optimizing inventory flow to ensure strong stock availability, particularly during peak trading periods and improving the flow of bulky products. Over now to our investment checklist on Slide 27. You all know this well, so I won't go through it in detail. However, I will highlight a couple of points that continue to drive our success. We are the scale operator and leader in our market with 3 unique and relevant brands. We have a diverse and resilient product range from essential technology to replacement home appliances and continued product and category innovation. We have a flexible business model with a proven ability to adapt and grow and a very experienced management team. Thank you, and we'll now open up to questions.

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from Shaun Cousins with UBS.

Nick and David, just curious around the drivers of the slowdown in the sales for January relative to what was a very strong sort of first half '26, and you saw that even a pullback on a 2-year stack basis. Has JB Australia and The Good Guys seen sales sort of in January suffer a little bit due to a bring forward of sales to November, not just say, from December to November, but also January to November as sort of Scali noted last week? Or was it competition or concerns around interest rates? Just any color on the drivers of January sales, much appreciated.

Yes. Look, January, it obviously has moderated slightly from the first half, but we're still pleased to see that growth. And I think when you look over the 2 years, the 2-year stack remains very solid. And it's -- the 2-year stack, I think is actually higher. It's a stronger 2-year stack than the Q1 stack. So what you're seeing, I think similar to what Scali saying with the promotional periods, January is not a promotional period, and we can see that customers are clearly looking for value and those promotional periods are outperforming like we saw in Q2. And I think that's a little bit of what you're seeing in January.

Okay. Perfect. Makes sense. My second question is just around CODB in JB Australia ex D&A, that's up some 6.8%. You've called out strategic initiatives. Can you sort of amplify some examples of that there? I'm just curious around how much of your CODB growth is actually sort of fixed or how much flex there is just in terms of how the company manages possibly slower like-for-like sales growth given that gross margins are generally at that 22% level. Just interested in any commentary around your CODB and how you handle that softer sales growth if that were to continue for the half?

Yes. Thanks, Shaun. Yes, so you're right, the CODB is growing slightly above sales there. It's about a 5 basis point increase in the CODB percentage. As you know, approximately 2/3 of that cost base is salary and wages, and we actively manage that in line with sales. So throughout that first half, we invested in additional hours on the shop floor, and that supported the customer experience, particularly during the key promotional periods. And we've had to do that whilst managing the fair work increase of 3.5% and 0.5% increase to superannuation. So then to your question, if you find yourself in a softer sales environment, approximately 20% to 25% of that workforce are casuals and hours can be adjusted down if absolutely necessary. We try to do this without impacting the customer experience, and we do that by looking at ways where we can make perhaps the back of house more efficient or by analytically reviewing rostering to ensure that we take hours out of times in the day when there are less customers in the store. So we have that flex. In terms of then where the cost increases come through, you can see in the [indiscernible] the other expenses that have increased more, and that's the strategic initiatives that we've called out in the past. And predominantly what comes through that line item is IT investment, so computer software investment, and that's what's driving the increase in JB.

And that computer software investment, does that annualize in the second half? Or was the first half, say, an annualization? Or should we just anticipate ongoing investments -- sorry, ongoing greater rates of computer sort of investments in the business?

We wouldn't expect it to grow that much. It will moderate slightly.

Your next question comes from Adrian Lemme with Citi.

I just want to focus on the gross margin. I think that was an area of positive surprise. Previously, there's been some drag from mix. And I know you've called out in your growth categories, things like mobiles and PCs still doing well, which I understand are below that kind of overall 22% margin. We've also seen TVs be soft, which I understand is a bit better margin. So is it small appliances, the growth you've seen there that's sort of driving this mix benefits, please?

Yes. It is -- wasn't -- mix wasn't a big headwind in JB in the first half. So yes, the -- and it is growth in some of those categories like small appliances that you mentioned is helping to offset a weaker first half in TVs and with growth in some of those lower-margin categories, that is definitely helping. But I would say what we've been pretty consistent in guiding to that 22% gross margin in JB in Australia. And I think it shows the strength of the execution of the teams in terms of how they're going to market, how they're leveraging that scale with suppliers, how our teams in store are actively qualifying customers and attaching and building high-quality baskets for customers. All of that goes into helping to maintain that 22% gross margin in JB Hi-Fi Australia.

And can I just ask a follow-up on small appliances. It obviously continues to be a strong performer. You've mentioned that you've expanded your range in personal care. Are you looking to allocate more space in small appliances more generally in JB Hi-Fi Australia and like could you potentially pull back on space allocation to large appliances, which maybe isn't performing as well?

We do space allocation on a store-by-store basis. You will definitely have seen in some of our more recent refurbishments that we are allocating more space to small appliances. And that's predominantly not coming from large appliances predominantly today. That's typically coming from as the software space in those stores is shrinking. So as movies and music is declining, that's typically where that extra space for small appliances and fitness and health and well-being categories is coming from.

Your next question comes from Michael Simotas with Jefferies.

Can you hear me?

Yes, we can hear you now, Michael.

Sorry. Just a question on the January trading update, if I can. I think there was an extra Saturday this year versus the same time last year in the month of January. Did that have a meaningful impact on any of the banners?

No, it doesn't. The weekends, the way our sales fall over the course of a week now, the weekends don't have a material impact on the sales.

Yes. Okay. That's great. And then just a follow-up to the earlier question on gross margin and in terms of how that relates to the promotional environment. It looked like a very promotional period, and you seem to go on full Boxing Day sale well out from Christmas. Can you talk a little bit about the balance between your own investment in promotions and price versus the support that you're getting from suppliers? And to what extent you can continue to deliver that increased competitiveness while maintaining gross margin?

Yes. I would say that nothing has changed through the half. It's still -- we're still actively looking to promote value and drive value with customers. We know we can see that customers are looking for that value, and we can see those promotional periods are really important. I would say our suppliers can see that as well. So they're as motivated at the moment in making sure they maximize those promotional periods. And you're seeing that across the industry. And that means the promotions are longer. That means they are starting earlier and even suppliers when they're going direct to consumer, they are starting earlier as well. We haven't seen a significant change in the mix of suppliers of promotions that are funded between us and the suppliers. We still endeavor to get all our promotional activity funded by suppliers. And we're still seeing, like we said last time, that sort of normalization of discounting on the sales floor. We're probably seeing that back to normal levels as well. So it's back to that competitive on-floor discounting. It's promotional. Our teams are doing a really good job of managing that with our suppliers and making sure we get supported as best we can.

Your next question comes from Tom Kierath with Barrenjoey.

Just within the AV category, were margins actually down there? Like was there more promotional activity and discounting there? Or was it kind of fairly normal?

Pretty normal in the -- when you say AV probably TV category, pretty normal. Like it's very promotional at the moment, and it's probably -- you'll notice it's not one of the categories we called out as being in growth. So it's a more challenging category from a top line sales growth perspective. But no margins overall have held.

Yes. Cool, cool. And then secondly, just on e&s, like the last 12 months, I think it made $4 million like in calendar '25. You paid effectively kind of $60 million for it. So it's making like I know 6% return. I assume that's not where you want it to kind of be. But what is the kind of shape of that business look like? And when do you kind of get it to a double-digit, maybe 20% type return, which I assume you're kind of targeting for that business?

Yes. It's -- like I said in the presentation, it's a long-term play for us, e&s. It's -- for us, it's come from being a small family business to now being part of a bigger group with -- we've got plans to expand and roll that brand out. So we need to get the foundations right. We're going to get the basics right. We absolutely have had to put some investment into the cost base to do that, and that will probably continue for the next 12 or so months. But our view hasn't changed. We still maintain absolutely long-term really significant opportunity there. It's talking to a different customer, The Good Guys. It's a more premium customer, absolutely more renovation and construction. Some of the investments we do make, they're going to have longer-term paybacks in terms of -- if you think in that business, we're putting -- like we said in the presentation, putting investments into new stores and commercial. We've got to right the sale, then there's long delivered lead times on the nature of those products. They're construction -- typically construction sales. So there can be 6 months, 12 months lead times on the sales between written and delivered, and it's going to take some time for that to come through. So we're really comfortable with the long-term outlook, and we're just going to require a bit of patience over the short to medium term as we get those foundations right.

Your next question comes from Sean Xu with CLSA.

You called out the strong performance in AI-enabled device and computing in the category. My question is, have you seen any impact from ongoing chip shortage resulting in higher ASP or supply constraint in the coming months? And perhaps what do you expect in consumer behavior to respond in this case, please?

Yes. We haven't seen it in the first half, but it is -- at the moment, we're definitely seeing suppliers starting to push price increases through in the PC category. The major driver of that now is cost increases for suppliers in memory and storage. And those price increases are likely to be on average around 20%. They haven't hit yet. They're likely to hit from March. We -- our expectation is we won't see ASP increases anywhere near that 20%. And it's like what we've talked about when we've seen price increases before in a category like appliances. There will be PCs at price points that customers can still spend to the same price point they were previously going to spend. So if a customer wants to spend $99.99 on a computer, we'll absolutely have a computer that is at that price point, and that's a choice that customer makes to purchase the PC at that price point, and it may have slightly different specs to what it had 3 months ago or there potentially will be some customers who maybe are willing to spend a bit more to get a more premium PC like a gaming PC. So haven't -- it definitely hasn't had an impact in the first half. Price increases will come through in the second half. We'll make sure we maintain those price points. And on top of that, there is still a pretty strong tailwind in terms of replacement cycle from those consumers who bought a PC during COVID, that's sort of 5 years ago now. So it's a natural replacement cycle on those PCs. And also there's a reasonable sized Windows 10 active user base who is now in the support and likely some of those users will move to Windows 11 over the next 12 months.

Okay. That's super helpful. Can I just do another quick follow-up on TV category, please? The industry feedback suggesting this category weakness has been in the past 12 months, in particularly around Chinese TV brands getting more market share, which had a pressure on ASP growth. Is that what you're still seeing? Any color on this category? And when do you expect the growth in this category again, please?

Yes, we have -- we've seen over the last 12 months to 2 years, yes, the Chinese brands have been performing quite strongly in the category. And look, I don't think that's the key driver of ASP. I think it is just generally, it's a category that has been a bit soft and everyone is trying to stimulate demand. And as a result, we're promoting heavily and promoting frequently with suppliers, and that's putting a bit of pressure on ASP. It's -- we would like to think that, that category starts to improve over the next 12 months. There's some new technology coming with RGB, which will hopefully be helpful. And yes, and at some point in the next 12 months, you'd like to think we start to cycle through some easier comps in that category, too.

Your next question comes from Ben Gilbert at Jarden.

Just wanted to follow up on the comment just around the expectation of price increases of sort of circa 20%. What sort of work has been done or thinking around sort of price elasticities? And I just want to unpack if you think ASP will be materially less than 20% is the expectation suppliers are going to fund that? Or are you expecting some gross margin compression to understand that?

No, we're not expecting gross margin impact. So those price increases will flow through to ticket price increases. What we are actively doing and what suppliers are actively doing is looking at range and the models within the range and actively trying to make sure they have product available at every price point. So a simple example is if you previously -- and these aren't live examples, but if it was $9.99 again, and you said previously that had 512 gigabytes of RAM, maybe after the price increases, you'll have a device that has -- sorry, not a gram of storage. You'll have a device that has 256 gigabytes of storage at $9.99. But similarly, it might be 16 gig RAM instead of 24 giga RAM. So what you'll see is, yes, there will be PCs with different specs at different price points. And that is -- that will help to enable customers to still hit the price point that they want to hit. And then -- but like I said, but there will be a certain number of customers who are very focused on performance or very focused on certain specifications and then they may be willing to pay more for that higher-end PC.

That's helpful. And I know you guys supply a lot of work around modeling in terms of where the replacement cycle is at. Do you think we're seeing the kicker in terms of demand coming through at the moment across sort of small appliances, PCs, these sorts of areas from replacement cycle kicking in? Or have we still got a bit of way to go there?

I think when you look at the first half, we would say all of those categories have had unit growth in the first half. So it's hard for us to exactly pinpoint what it is, but it does feel like you're seeing some of that replacement coming through.

And just final one for me. Just in terms of margin mix in terms of looking forward, you obviously officially launched your media business now you've got your partner. You've also obviously got the marketplace, which is ramping and then there's obviously still a big focus around attachments, et cetera, with your loyalty piece. Just wondering where you are in terms of how material those 3 buckets could be looking forward from a contribution standpoint, particularly the media side? Is that a $20 million EBIT opportunity for you? Is it $5 million? Because some big numbers get thrown around from some of your competitors and people more broadly in retail.

Yes, I have seen a number of big numbers quoted by a number of retailers. I would say we have a very strong traditional retail media business today that we work with our supplier brand partners around, and that's anything from on-site to in-store, and we've got screens in store and we monetize those, and we're absolutely monetizing a lot of our digital assets. What you've seen in the recent announcement, it's more about an evolution of that retail media business. It's not -- we're not expecting these massive incremental improvement in spend from our trade partners. It's around new technology platforms, new assets, just continuing to support and to grow that business with our brands. And then it's about also opening it up to what we would call near endeavor partners, so people that we not necessarily supply partners today, but people that we work with to give them an opportunity to access some of those assets as well. So it's -- those things all go into helping us maintain the gross margin. It's not about -- we're not expecting to see an uplift in gross margin as a result.

Marketplace should be accretive though in theory, isn't it because of it drops sort of pretty chunky.

Yes, the commission drops through...

EBIT margin, not necessarily gross margin.

Your next question comes from Bryan Raymond with JPMorgan.

The first one is, apologies, a bit of a short-term one. But just in the January period, I was wondering if there was any impact from any product launch delays, particularly in telco category that might have weighed on the January figure, which will wash out over the March quarter. Is there anything meaningful that we should be thinking about there?

It's not from a product launch perspective. There's nothing significantly different. There is a few stock shortages that had an impact in January, but overall, nothing from a product launch perspective.

Okay. And then just on the CapEx side, you've already talked to some of the investments you're putting through the CODB line, but I noticed CapEx up 21% year-on-year. You've also talked to supply chain investment a fair bit over time. And just interested as to how much that's playing a role in that CapEx step-up, if we should be expecting a similar lift in the second half and beyond? Just keen to understand that sort of CapEx profile, please.

Yes, Bryan, there's not a lot of CapEx in the supply chain in the first half. It's all timing. So we had more store-based CapEx completed in the first half this year. There was one additional new store in the half compared to the same half last year, and The Good Guys undertook a major relocation of the Geelong store. So that will normalize in the second half, and it will be moderately up across the full year.

Okay. And maybe just a follow-up, if I can, just on that is the supply chain piece, like how should we be thinking about that from a medium-term perspective? I don't expect guidance, but it's something you've spoken about for a little -- for a few results in a row now. Is that something that should eventually flow through to CapEx? Or are you looking at some sort of supply funding of that through terms? I'd just be interested in your thoughts more broadly around supply chain, please?

Yes, we're not expecting a significant increase in CapEx in supply chain in the short to medium term. At the moment, it's more around continuing to evolve that supply chain rather than any big bang investment in the short to medium term. We're doing a significant amount of work, and we've made some good improvement in the first half, like we implemented a new transport management system, which is giving us a good foundation for how we deliver our products. We tested some centralized online fulfillment in the first half in New South Wales in a dark store. And we'll just continue to test and learn over the short to medium term. There's not -- I say not expecting a significant uplift in CapEx in that period.

Your next question comes from Josephine Forde with BofA.

My question is on The Good Guys sales growth. The 2-year stack is pretty outstanding. Can you just talk through how you've executed this? What's driving such strong demand in home appliances? And then have you been doing anything differently in your summer promotional period? Because it still looks like you're gaining some market share in The Good Guys.

Yes. What's really pleasing in The Good Guys is we're doing really well in those core destination categories for The Good Guys, and that's that large, bulky appliances and small appliances. And I think what you're seeing there is -- and we talked about is in an environment where customers are looking for value, The Good Guys brand is absolutely positioned for value. And as a result, I think we take share in those value categories in a period like this. Absolutely. The Good Guys, credit to the team. They're executing very strongly and particularly in that Q2 to cycle some really big numbers in Q2 the year before and deliver 5% sales growth again this year, a real credit to execution in The Good Guys.

Okay. Yes. And then maybe just on -- I know you don't give guidance for the second half, but are there any categories that you're sort of expecting should drive sales for JB Australia? Is it just continued momentum in phones and small appliances again? Or are there new product launches or promotions that you're planning for the second half, please?

It will be -- look, it will be a continuation of the categories we've seen in the first half. We still think we've got significant opportunities in the mobile phone category. Like I said earlier, with the computer category with the replacement cycle in computers. And then in small appliances, we have seen innovation. We're also excited about categories like in the health and fitness categories. We've seen product launches in the first half in those categories that have been quite successful, like in wearables and for example, in rings and other wearables, we've seen strong growth and strong demand for those products we introduced those in the first half. So it's definitely about a continuation of the categories that we called out in the first half. And there will be -- there is some good product launches coming, and we will see cycling the same timing as last year broadly. So they're cycling the second half last year releases, but they will come through in half 2 as well.

Your next question comes from Craig Woolford with MST Marquee.

First question, just around the Aussie dollar. You talked about what might happen in the PC or computer category. How -- I know you don't have direct exposure to currency, but most of the products are ultimately manufactured offshore and currencies will impact your suppliers. But how do you expect the Australian dollar or price inflation path ahead given what we've seen in the Aussie dollar over the last couple of months?

Yes, it's a good call out. I probably should highlight it. Look, no one is -- the OEMs aren't talking about price reductions just yet, but I do think there is a potential for the foreign exchange to assist with offsetting some of those cost increases in PCs as an example. I think potentially, what you see and it depends on the OEM sort of suppliers hedging strategy, but I think potentially, on new product launches, we might see some benefit of that FX helping to offset what would otherwise be cost increases.

And how does it transfer at a -- would you tend to find a transfer at a dollar rate or as in a dollar outcome or you hold your percentage margin, like if you've got less lower prices in some of your categories that are not impacted by the memory chip issue, just is that a headwind for JB Hi-Fi? Or is it...

Yes. Look, I don't necessarily think we're going to see straight price reductions. I think it will help to offset inflationary impacts of cost increases in products. But ordinarily, we would say our model has always been hold the gross margin. And if there is price decreases, then we'll -- it's a good thing for driving value and driving top line sales growth.

Got it. And with your one other line item, if I add together lease amortization and lease interest costs, that increased by 8.5% year-on-year. There's a little bit of store movement, but it still does look like a high per store increase in lease costs. Can you just give some background on that? And should we expect a similar dynamic in the second half?

Yes. So interest on lease expenses is up and predominantly in The Good Guys, which you can see. It's a combination of 2 things. The first is the phasing of the lease renewals. So there's been more lease renewals come through with The Good Guys. That's just timing that ebbs and flows. And the expense will always be higher at the start of a lease period. So when you get more renewals, you'll get a higher interest on lease liability. And the second is the increased discount rate that comes through on renewals because the cash rate is a lot higher now than 3 to 5 years ago when the last -- when the lease was last renewed or signed. So it will push more interest on lease liabilities. So that explains the interest on lease liabilities. When you aggregate them up, lease costs are generally running in line with sales. So reasonably well managed to the extent that you see more, it's just a function of new stores.

But isn't it more of a fixed rate increase? Like I said, if I add together the 2 items, I get 8.5% growth year-on-year, which is above sales, but is it -- should we expect it to be sales linked? So if we've got a sales slowdown in the second half that, that lease cost growth will slow? Or is it more fixed than that?

They're more fixed.

Your next question comes from Ajay Mariswamy with Macquarie.

Just a question around The Good Guys. Given it's more of a replacement market type business, how could we expect some of the changes we're seeing in interest rates or potential consumer expectations on that? Would we expect that to be a more insulated type business relative to a JB Hi-Fi or even e&s?

I think it's -- look, I think the replacement nature of the business does absolutely provide some protection for The Good Guys. So that is helpful for The Good Guys. Relative to JB, I would say that in JB, what we've seen, and we've said this over the last few years is that tech is becoming less discretionary as well. People are prioritizing their spend on their mobile phone and above other things. So I think there's an element of sort of less discretionary nature of the JB spend too. e&s is definitely more premium and more construction and renovation linked. So yes, it's probably out of the 3 businesses. That's the business that is more correlated to impact of interest rates and impact of the housing cycle.

Got it. And then just in terms of the competitive dynamics that you're seeing in the outlook statement, you commented on competition still remaining pretty strong. Is that more from the incumbents at the moment? Or are we seeing the likes of an Amazon, for example, starting to get a foothold in the market?

No. Look, it's more from the incumbents. So Amazon are absolutely there and competing hard, but it's more traditional multichannel retailers.

Your next question comes from Mac Ross with Morgan Stanley.

So there's been a few questions already on like AI PCs and memory relating to PCs. But it sounds like you don't view memory inflation as a headwind at all to impacting volumes. Is that correct?

No. Look, we're obviously cautious of the price increases that are coming through. We're just saying that we are working very closely with our supply partners to make sure we have devices available for customers at all price points to make sure we minimize any impact or minimize to the best we can, any impact on volume. And the offset is that there will be -- and like I said, there will be a cohort of customers who will be potentially willing to spend a little bit more as well. So we're cautious on it, but we're actively planning for it. We've got good visibility on supply, and we're comfortable with supply, and we're comfortable between us and our supply partners, we'll have a good strategy in place to work on how we present that to our customers.

And you said the first sort of port of call would be to hold category GP margins, but you would invest in price if required to do so?

Our goal is always to hold gross margins and to work with our suppliers to maintain that.

Great. Next question, maybe just on Amazon. Touched on multichannel. I was just curious if you've noticed a step-up in their price competitiveness in key categories. And also, is this an area that you guys need to invest more in, in terms of e-commerce and delivery offering?

In terms of competitiveness, though, we haven't seen any significant change in Amazon competitiveness. They are a really strong competitor today. They've been a strong competitor for a period of time now, and we are very focused on making sure we compete actively with Amazon and the more traditional incumbent competitors effectively. So comfortable around competition. We'll continue to manage it. And from a delivery perspective, look, Amazon do a really good job in delivery, but we think we have very good delivery options for our customers as well. So we remain absolutely focused on delivering that best-in-class delivery options and whether that's from our bulky goods through to our expedited sort of immediate delivery options with Uber. We think we've got a really powerful suite of delivery options that compete well with a lot of those pure-play competitors.

Your next question comes from Adrian Lemme with Citi.

One more quick one. Just noted inventory up 7% year-on-year. We've seen sales slow a bit in January and maybe gets tougher from here with the rate outlook. Are you guys confident that you can manage the inventory without hurting gross margin from here, please?

Yes. I think, Adrian, as you've seen, we'll continue to manage inventory in line with sales growth. And you've seen that inventory come in more in New Zealand, obviously, to support the strong comp and new store growth we're generating in New Zealand. And there's a little bit more in JB Australia in some of the categories of brands that are also driving growth. As you look forward, as I said, we'll continue to manage that in line with sales growth, and we're very comfortable with the level and quality of inventory in the business as it stands.

Your next question comes from Bryan Raymond with JPMorgan.

Just further on the memory pricing dynamic. The mobile phone handset category, I understand it's probably a bit less exposed potentially from a price increase perspective, but as I understand, a bigger part of your sales mix. So just trying to understand if the similar dynamics hold there and upcoming iPhone release and other releases, should we expect ASP inflation there as well of a similar magnitude? Or -- and do you expect the customer to respond in a similar way as in PC?

Yes. Look, I think it's an open question at the moment. I think that a couple of those dynamics that I called out earlier are absolutely applicable here as well. So the cost of memory and storage you'd expect would have an impact. What you typically see in the mobile phone category is the suppliers will hold increases for the next product launch. And if you think about iPhone, that's typically not until September. So we've got a fair amount of time before that will come through. And then as I called out earlier, the other element which will impact is whether the foreign exchange will help to offset some of those memory impacts in that mobile phone category. Separate to that, is the customer more willing to pay more in that category? Potentially. I think some of the customers in those mobile phone categories are very brand loyal, and there's a number of customers who will want the latest and greatest device. And so maybe it's a little bit less elastic on price.

Your next question comes from Emily Porter with Morgans. All right. And otherwise, that does conclude our question-and-answer session. I will just hand back for any closing remarks.

Well, once again, thanks, everyone, for joining and for your interest in our business. We will no doubt see a number of you on the road over the course of the week. Thank you.

That does conclude our conference for today. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.