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While some Australian retail operations are stuck in a revenue and profit rut, jewellery store Lovisa (ASX: LOV) reported strong half year results to buck the industry trend.
Lovisa's half year results showed revenue was up 18.9 per cent to $118.6 million and its net profit after tax rose by nearly 23 per cent to $24.8 million.
The company's chief executive officer Steve Doyle says the first half results have given the company confidence ahead of plans to expand globally.
"It's pleasing that the business has been able to maintain the solid start to the year as we continue our global rollout, helping to deliver both sales growth and gross margin expansion, delivering NPAT growth of 23 per cent," says Doyle.
The company continued to expand in Australia, with a 31 store increase for the first half of FY18.
The group also opened its first store in Glendale Galleria in California in November 2017 and, more recently, its first store in Paris.
The company stressed that its results were hugely boosted by an "outstanding" Christmas and Boxing Day sale period, but remains optimistic for the rest of the financial year.
"We will continue to invest in supporting store network expansion and do not expect the gross margin benefits delivered in the first half of the financial year to continue at the same level as currency tailwinds moderate and we continue to cycle store ranges from prior year," says the company.
Shares in the jewellery retailer were up 2.04 per cent to $8.00 per share at 11.24am AEDT.
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