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Tag: Smiggle

  • Smiggle parent Premier Investments feeling the impact of Covit-19

    Smiggle parent Premier Investments feeling the impact of Covit-19

    Premier Investments has weathered a string of global crises, including Brexit, Hong Kong protests and Australia’s bushfires to post record sales and earnings in the first half of the financial year – but now it says the coronavirus pandemic is impacting trade across every brand in its portfolio.

    On Friday, the owner of major national and international retail brands, including Smiggle, Peter Alexander, Just Jeans, Portmans, Dotti, Jacqui E, Jay Jays and Breville, reported a 7.6-per-cent increase in first-half sales year on year, to $732.1 million (US$427.7 million), and a 10.7-per-cent increase in earnings before interest and tax, to $126.1 million ($73.7 million).

    But the strong performance may be cold comfort, as the coronavirus outbreak and strict self-isolation measures introduced to contain the spread in certain markets have already severely impacted Premier’s trade in the second half.

    Smiggle sales have been “severely disrupted” in Hong Kong, Singapore, and Malaysia, and “deteriorated significantly” in the UK and Ireland, the company said in a statement to the Australian Stock Exchange.

    Trade-in all brands in Australia and New Zealand have been impacted, and the company warned gross margin could be affected as it moves to clear inventory in each market.

    Premier Investments CEO Mark McInnes declined to provide specifics on changes in sales or foot traffic, saying on a media call that the company was not “in control of what’s happening on a daily basis” and “merely responding” to the crisis at hand.

    He described the current situation as “unprecedented” and unlike anything he has experienced, including the Global Financial Crisis in 2008 and recession in 1991.

    He also warned there could be widespread store closures if landlords do not start supporting their tenants by renegotiating rents.

    “Since the outbreak of COVID-19, we have closed two stores in Hong Kong, and we are prepared to close many more stores globally if landlords do not respond to the current crisis,” McInnes said.

    While he noted that Premier Investments could exit 70 percent of its leases in Australia and New Zealand with just 30 days’ notice, he said it wasn’t about “profiteering”, but rather “sharing the reality”.

    “Historical rents are just…all we’re pointing out to landlords is the reality of the situation,” he said.

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  • Stationery retailer Smiggle targets Asia

    Stationery retailer Smiggle targets Asia

    Vibrant stationery retailer Smiggle is expanding within Asia following a record global performance reaching 34.8 per cent sales growth in the territory.

    Brand owner Premier Investments will be pushing Smiggle in South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, as well as the UAE, making the brand available in over 100 new locations by July this year.

    Smiggle will also be expanded to Canada in late 2019, giving the brand its first exposure to a “key North American market.”

    The brand’s total sales for the first half of the current fiscal year reached US$126.59 million, contributing to Premier’s increased group net profit of 13 per cent over the period to $62.87 million.

    Due to “major structural changes to the global retail industry,” the brand will partner with Amazon Europe to launch in France, Italy, Germany and Spain between April and July 2019, and is in talks with Alibaba to bring the brand to countries where the brand does not currently operate.

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  • Smiggle Asia shows positive growth

    Smiggle Asia shows positive growth

    Smiggle Asia is thriving, its success here encouraging the stationery retailer’s parent to expand in other global markets.

    Smiggle, a subsidiary of Australian listed company Premier Investments, opened three new stores in Hong Kong in the first half of its current trading year and a further two in Malaysia. Both markets now have 13 Smiggle stores trading.

    “The brand now expects to have between 17 and 19 stores operating in Malaysia within three years of first opening. This is well ahead of the original plan,” the company said in an earnings filing.

    “The Smiggle Asia division had an exceptionally strong half. Singapore, the most mature of the Asian markets, enjoyed strong like-for-like growth with tourists providing valuable insights into potential new Smiggle markets.”

    The brand achieved record global sales of A$170.7 million (US$131.6 million) in the first half, up 26.7 per cent on the same time last year, underpinned by the opening of 35 new stores. More than 60 per cent of Smiggle sales during the period were from outside Australia. Smiggle now has 332 stores across Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Ireland.

    The company will open a global flagship on Oxford Street in London in May as the UK business aims for $200 million in annual sales by next year.

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  • Smiggle’s global expansion accelerates

    Smiggle’s global expansion accelerates

    Billionaire businessman Solomon Lew has unveiled a new target of 100 new Smiggle UK stores by Christmas.

    A further 40 to 60 of the popular stationery stores are planned to open in the UK each calendar year from 2017 to 2019.

    Smiggle is the highlight of Mr Lew’s retail investment arm Premier Investments which owns seven brands, including its other core brand, designer sleepwear Peter Alexander.

    Mr Lew, the chairman of Premier Investments, said he was confident Smiggle would conquer the world.

    “This brand will be successful in every country in the world where there are children,” he said.

    “This market is going to grow and grow and become a world brand.”

    Smiggle’s global sales rose 46.5 per cent in the six months to January 30 with strong like-for-like sales in all four countries it trades in, including Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

    Mr Lew said the standout was Smiggle UK which continued to trade ahead of expectations.

    The UK business had 42 stores by the end of the half and is on track to achieve 200 stores and $200 million in sales within five years.

    Smiggle’s rollout in Asia is also on track with its first Malaysian store to open in April and its first Hong Kong store set to open in May.

    Malaysia and Hong Kong is expected to have a total of 50 stores in five years.

    All of Premier Investments’ brands, including Just Jeans, Dotti, Portmans, Jacqui-E and Jay-Jays, recorded like-for-like sales growth in the first half.

    Peter Alexander’s sales grew 22.5 per cent, with eight new store openings in Australia and New Zealand during the half.

    Total group sales rose 15.1 per cent to $565 million and net profit climbed 26 per cent to $71.5 million in the half.

    Mr Lew said the company’s balance sheet was strong and the group remained open to potential future acquisitions.

    Premier’s shares closed 60 cents, or 4.1 per cent, higher at $15.31.

    PREMIER’S PROFIT JUMPS ON STRONG SALES:

    * Net profit up 26pct to $71.5m

    * Revenue up 15.1pct to $565m

    * Fully franked interim dividend up two cents to 23 cents

    SMIGGLE STORE COUNT IN FIRST HALF:

    * 126 in Australia

    * 23 in NZ

    * 18 in Singapore

    * 42 in the UK

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  • Smiggle plans Hong Kong, Malaysia roll-out

    Smiggle plans Hong Kong, Malaysia roll-out

    Trendy stationery retailer Smiggle says it will open two more stores in Hong Kong in the next six months.

    Smiggle, owned by Australian-listed multi-brand retail group Premier Investments, also plans its first store in Malaysia before July 31 and expects to build a network of 50 stores across Hong Kong and Malaysia during the next five years.

    The chain already has 42 stores trading in the UK, plans 18 more over the next six months, and targets 100 there by Christmas.

    The Smiggle plans were revealed in the parent company’s half year result to January 30, The company, which also owns the Peter Alexander nightwear, Dotti, Jay Jays, Just Jeans, Portmans and Jacqui-E retail chains, predominantly trades in Australia and New Zealand. But Smiggle is a standout.

    Premier’s chairman, Solomon Lew, says Smiggle will remain and strong growth driver for the group.

    “Smiggle delivered global sales growth of 46.5 per cent and our UK roll-out is progressing well ahead of schedule. We continue to believe that Smiggle has the potential to become a truly global brand.”

    The company reported a net profit of AU$98.3 million (HK$583.625 million) for the half ended 30 January 2016, up 24.9 per cent year-on-year, before tax and interest.

    Total sales were up 15.1 per cent to AU$565 million, while like-for-like sales were up 6.9 per cent.

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  • Solomon Lew’s plan to take Hong Kong’s shopping centres with Smiggle

    Solomon Lew’s plan to take Hong Kong’s shopping centres with Smiggle

    Solomon Lew is renowned for driving a hard bargain and that’s exactly what he has been doing in Hong Kong this week.

    Australia’s most strategic billionaire and the man running his fast-growing stationery empire – John Cheston – spent Friday in a van visiting dozens of shopping malls in the former British colony. They will do the same again on Saturday.

    It is not Hong Kong’s glitzy designer stores that interest Lew. He and Cheston are personally inspecting the sites identified by Premier Investments’ property team as locations for a chain of Smiggle stores due to open in the territory early next year.

    “We walk every centre. We walk every store. We are there in the morning, in the afternoon, in the evening and we go back in the evening. We want to see different times of the day. We go early in the morning and then it revs up. The kids finish school and then … bingo!” Lew says in an interview with AFR Weekend.

    “This is a business that caters to six to 14 years of age, 75 per cent female. You are getting a new crop growing every year. As they fall out at the older end, the younger ones are coming in. When you see them walking in and they bring their piggy bank and turn it upside down and say what can I get for this, it’s just amazing. ”

    We are sitting in Lew’s hotel room in the Mandarin Oriental Hotel overlooking Hong Kong’s busy harbour. It is a sight Lew is familiar with.

    He has been travelling to Hong Kong since the 1960s, up to 11 times a year. But instead of importing goods made in China to Australia, he now plans to sell stationery to the Chinese – and a lot of it.

    After a reconnaissance trip to Hong Kong in June, Lew and his team are getting serious this week. Premier chief Mark McInnes is joining them in the van before flying to Kuala Lumpur on Saturday for the next leg of the tour.

    Smiggle, the stationery chain which has become the fastest-growing business in Lew’s Premier Investments apparel empire, is planning to open 50 stores in Hong Kong and Malaysia over the next five years. It is the next phase in his plans to take the brand global after breaking into the United Kingdom, where 200 stores are planned.

    Lew wants Cheston to do most of the talking. He is the Asia expert after all after running Marks & Spencer’s Hong Kong operations and listed Singapore retailer Robinson & Co before moving to Australia to run Smiggle.

    The perfect market

    Cheston says densely-populated Hong Kong is perfect for Smiggle, which is making millions selling brightly-coloured lunch boxes, backpacks, water bottles, and pencil cases to six to 14-year olds in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.

    “There is a predominance of shopping centres here and that is our fertile ground, limited competition. From what we do there is not a lot of competition. We have well established contacts through Sol,” he says.

    “In Hong Kong if you are hot they want you and if you are cold they don’t. We are in demand from the landlords over here. We need to leverage that business with the agents who represent us and get good locations and get good deals. The biggest challenge is getting the space and the rents,” Cheston says.

    That is something Lew has plenty of experience at. Rather than being deterred by China’s slowing economy, which is hitting high-end luxury retail sales in places like Hong Kong, Lew says it is an opportunity to negotiate better deals from landlords. He also sees it as a gateway to China, a country he has had plenty of experience with over the decades building his apparel empire, because 41 million mainland tourists visit Hong Kong each year.

    The plan now is to take Smiggle global. Cheston says he has had inquiries from literally every country on the planet to franchise the brand but, for now, Premier plans to keep the stores wholly-owned. Lew says it’s better than the McDonald’s model.

    “The international business in a very short period of time will be much larger than the Australian business and there are not too many Australian retailers who have been successful offshore,” Lew says.

    “This is going to be world-class operation and there is no reason it shouldn’t work in any country in the world where there is moderate income.”

    Lew’s focus on overseas expansion stands in stark contrast to some of the other big names in Australian retail.

    Myer, for example, is embarking on a $600 million revival plan under new chief executive Richard Umbers. The company has been described as a possible takeover target for Premier Investments, but Lew would not comment on the seemingly perennial speculation about such a tilt.

    Nor would he comment on the progress of David Jones. Last year, Lew grabbed a windfall of about $400 million when South African retailer Woolworths Holdings bought David Jones and Country Road; Lew had stakes in both. David Jones looked to be riding high until recent weeks when chief executive Ian Nairn stepped down suddenly.

    Singapore experience being applied

    Cheston says the success of Smiggle’s Orchid Road operations in Singapore are now being used as leverage to negotiate good deals with landlords in Hong Kong because it drives traffic to shopping malls.

    Like the UK operations, he expects Hong Kong to be profitable in the first year.  The plan is to open 50 stores across Hong Kong and Malaysia which will make $55 million in revenue. In Hong Kong, Lew would like to firm up 10 stores initially but says he will probably start with five or six.

    Australia has almost peaked with around 10 additional stores on top of the existing 124 planned. The Hong Kong target is around 25 to 35 stores and 20 in Malaysia, mainly in Kuala Lumpur.

    As well as lower taxes, Cheston says Asia is attractive for the “kidult” market, where older people who live in small apartments with their families like to adorn their office workstations with stationery.

    Premier Investments posted record full-year results last month and is expected to hit sales of more than $1 billion this year. Double-digit growth at Smiggle and its designer pyjama business, Peter Alexander, are outstripping the company’s core apparel brands such as Just Jeans and Dotti.

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  • Smash hit Australian kids’ stationary store Smiggle is going global

    Smash hit Australian kids’ stationary store Smiggle is going global

    Billionaire retail veteran Solomon Lew is boosting the global presence of his iconic kids’ stationary store, Smiggle, after announcing plans to open up 50 new stores across Hong Kong and Malaysia over the next five years.

    Managing director of Premier Investments’ Smiggle, John Cheston, has singled out the growing appetite for fashion-based stationary in Hong Kong’s shopping centres which he describes as being a “fertile ground” with “limited competition”.

    “In Hong Kong if you are hot they want you and if you are cold they don’t. We are in demand from the landlords over here. We need to leverage that business with the agents who represent us and get good locations and get good deals. The biggest challenge is getting the space and the rents,” Cheston told the AFR.

    So far, the retail chain store has opened more than 100 stores in Australia with shop fronts in New Zealand, Singapore including another 16 stores to open up before Christmas in UK this year, bringing the total to 200 stores in the UK.

    The decision to go global rides off the success of the stationary empire with last month’s figures reporting a sales jump of 26% to $132.6 million, making it the fastest-growing business within the Premier Investments apparel group.

    The retail is holding optimistic expectations about its first foray into the Hong Kong and Malaysian marketplace after testing the waters in Singapore earlier last year with plans to generate $55 million in revenue.

    “The international business in a very short period of time will be much larger than the Australian business and there are not too many Australian retailers who have been successful offshore,” said Lew.

    “This is going to be world-class operation and there is no reason it shouldn’t work in any country in the world where there is moderate income.”

    The decision for the retail giant to take things global has been on the cards for some time now.

    “The retail environment in Australia remains challenging, however we continue to adapt by rejuvenating our core brands, growing uniquely positioned brands like Peter Alexander and seeking opportunities for further offshore expansion of Smiggle,” said Solomon Lew more than two years ago.

    These comments were followed up by Lew who said that there would be continued investment to support the growth of Smiggle in local and overseas markets earlier this year despite volatile consumer confidence.

  • Smiggle speeds Asian expansion

    Smiggle speeds Asian expansion

    Smiggle, the trendy, stationery retail concept from Australia, is to open stores in Hong Kong and Malaysia within 14 months.

    Smiggle – popular with students and people seeking gifts – has proven an enormous success in Singapore for its parent, Melbourne-based Premier Investments. During the announcement of the company’s trading results yesterday (read about Premier’s year here) founder and chairman Solomon Lew outlined plans to expand into Hong Kong, Malaysia, Wales and Scotland over the next 14 months.

    Based on trading figures from the company’s Singapore store network, Lew said management expected Hong Kong and Malaysia to support 50 stores within five years.

    “I am pleased to announce the expansion of the Smiggle footprint in Asia through entry into two new markets, Malaysia and Hong Kong.”

    Smiggle’s worldwide sales rose 26 per cent. The company opened 24 stores in the UK during the last trading year and expects to have another 16 open before Christmas.

    Lew says both Smiggle and its sleepwear chain Peter Alexander performed beyond expectations in the year past.

    The company opened eight new Peter Alexander stores in the first half of the current year and plans as many as 15 more over the next two years in Australia and New Zealand.