Higher demand for big-ticket furniture fuels Nick Scali sales as profit surges 36pc

Furniture retailer Nick Scali has reaped the benefits of higher consumer demand for big-ticket items like couches and dining tables to notch up a 36 per cent surge in half-year profit.

But the weaker-than-expected trading update in January took the shine off the strong profit result to send Nick Scali shares down 11.8 per cent to $20.99 in early trade Friday.

Nick Scali’s net profit hit $41 million in the half-year ended December, compared with the prior corresponding period’s $30m and exceeded guidance of $37m to $39m. The result beat consensus by 8.7 per cent.

Nick Scali — one of the country’s biggest sofa and furnishing retailers with more than 100 stores in Australia and NZ — posted a 7.2 per cent jump in revenue to $269.3m.

For the flagship Australian and NZ division, net profit hit $46.6m, an increase of 36.7 per cent when compared with the first-half of the previous year.

Chief executive Anthony Scali said the first-half delivered solid sales and profit growth in Australia and NZ, with good progress made in the UK as the completion of store refurbishments and rebranding contributed to improvement in written sales orders.

“We continue to grow our store network across ANZ with six new stores to be opened in FY26, and several new store opportunities currently under negotiation in the UK,” he said.

The recently acquired British stores reported a loss of $5.6m. Nick Scali said this was in-line with forecast and reflected lengthy store closures during the half associated with the refurbishment and rebranding program.

The company declared an interim dividend of 39¢ a share, up from 30¢ a year earlier

Providing a trading update, Nick Scali said written sales in Australia and NZ were up only 3.2 per cent in January, below the 11 per cent expected.