Premier Investments share price higher after announcing store reopenings and online sales surge

The Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV) share price is pushing higher on Tuesday after releasing a business update.

At the time of writing the retail conglomerate’s shares are up 2.5% to $15.83.

What was in Premier Investments’ update?

This morning Premier Investments advised that in line with step one of the Government’s plan to reopen Australia, Premier Investments will be opening the balance of its stores in Australia from Friday May 15. This follows the reopening of its Queensland and Northern Territory stores late last week.

Outside Australia, in New Zealand the company plans to reopen its stores on May 14, whereas its UK and Asia stores will remain closed until at least June 1.

Sales update.

These store openings are good news for the company as their closures had caused a significant decline in global sales.

According to the release, Premier Investments’ total sales for the six weeks to May 6 were down 74% on the prior corresponding period.

It would have been much worse had the company not made its high level of investment in online technology over the last decade.

This strong online capability has supported strong online sales growth during the pandemic. Since the beginning of the temporary store closures, Premier Investments’ online sales have surged by 99%.

The Peter Alexander brand has been a real standout. It has experienced a 295% increase in online sales over the period.

But perhaps most impressive was that during the week ended May 2, Peter Alexander Australia’s online sales alone were up 18% on the total sales across both online and its entire 122 store and concession network in Australia during the prior corresponding period.

Balance sheet strength.

Premier Investments remains in a strong financial position and looks set to comfortably ride out the storm.

As at May 1, the company’s consolidated cash position was $256.2 million. It also maintains access to undrawn facilities of $91.8 million. Management believes this leaves it well placed to begin its recovery, including progressively bringing back its workforce to reopen.

Though it has warned that there could still be tough times ahead.

It commented: “No one can reliably predict the pace and timing of the upcoming phase of economic recovery. In this recovery period, Premier Retail’s sales and margin by store, by country, by brand and by region are highly uncertain and will be dictated predominately by the manner in which consumers respond to the return of instore shopping in their local communities, bound by strict social distancing rules and health guidelines.”

In light of this, it has no plans to provide guidance for FY 2020 at this stage.

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Motley Fool contributor James Mickleboro has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool Australia owns shares of and has recommended Premier Investments Limited. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. This article contains general investment advice only (under AFSL 400691). Authorised by Scott Phillips.

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