Harvey Norman’s Australian business has been the electronics and homewares retailer’s second worst performing unit so far this financial year in terms of sales growth.
Harvey Norman, which faces shareholders at what could be a heated annual general meeting in Sydney on Wednesday, says Australian franchisee comparable sales for the four months to October 31 were just 0.4 per cent higher than a year earlier.
That compares to a 1.7 per cent rise across the whole business, with only Singapore – where sales fell 8.1 per cent – performing worse.
The sluggish local sales growth was announced a day after Australian consumer confidence was shown to have slumped to a four-year low following a clutch of gloomy economic data.
Three Reserve Bank rate cuts since June and federal government tax rebates have failed to stimulate consumer spending, with retail sales growth slowing to a seasonally adjusted 0.2 per cent in September from 0.4 per cent in August.
Harvey Norman will at its AGM aim to face down a second strike on executive pay and shareholder disquiet over an apparent lack of independence of directors on a board that has been unchanged since 2007.
Chairman Gerry Harvey called his critics “totally friggen mad” at last year’s meeting, when 50.63 per cent of shareholders rejected the retailer’s remuneration report.
Northern Ireland, Slovenia and Croatia, and Ireland all showed comparable sales growth of more than eight per cent, with New Zealand not far behind at 7.7 per cent.
Malaysia, the remaining territory in which Harvey Norman is active, showed 4.2 per cent growth.
Harvey Norman shares were down 10 cents, or 2.3 per cent, at $4.22 at 1051 AEDT against the backdrop of an overall rise by the benchmark ASX200.
AAP