Long time readers of my column will know that I am a huge fan of JB Hi-Fi (JBH). Without a shadow of a doubt, it is Australia’s best retailer. So I wasn’t surprised when on Tuesday, it “pre-released” its 2022 financial results showing record sales and record earnings.

JB Hi-Fi was forced into a “pre-release” because under the rules that cover continuous disclosure, when a company realizes that its numbers are materially different to the way the analysts are seeing it, they are required to tell the market. The company’s full year unaudited net profit of $544.9m was more than 12% higher than broker consensus forecasts, and hence the early disclosure. JBH’s audited accounts will be released on 15 August.

In a Covid impacted year, sales for the year were up by 3.5%, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) by 6.9%, and NPAT grew by 7.7%. An improvement in gross margins, particularly with the Good Guys, drove EBIT and NPAT growth. The final quarter was strong despite steam coming out of the housing market and interest rates starting to increase, with comparable stores sales growth of 10.9% for JB Hi-Fi Australia and 7.5% for The Good Guys.

There are three things that I really like about JB-Hi-Fi.

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