Temple & Webster has dodged the impact of a pullback in consumer spending being felt by the wider retail sector, with the online furniture retailer booking record full-year revenue.
The $1 billion company on Tuesday revealed revenue for the year ended June hit $497.8 million, up 26 per cent year-on-year.
But while profit tumbled to $1.8m from last year’s $8.3m, Temple & Webster shares surged to 23.3 per cent to $11.71, its highest since May.
“Despite significant cost-of-living pressures, Temple & Webster has once again bucked the trend with another great set of results for FY24,” Temple & Webster chief executive Mark Coulter said.
He added the record revenue came amid a 4 per cent fall in the market, which “shows the strength in our product offering and the value we offer”.
“Our mid-term target is to reach $1b+ in annual sales and we are progressing well against our strategic goals, which includes developing leading (artificial intelligence)/data capabilities in our category,” Mr Coulter said.
“Our internal AI team has developed a generative AI ‘solutions in a box’, which is now powering a suite of tools from product recommendations to live chat interactions with customers.”
The Sydney-based online furniture retailer also said revenue growth for the year was driven by a 31 per cent jump in active customers to an all-time high of 1.1 million.
Repeat customers now make up 57 per cent of all orders and 850 new private label products were added in the 2024 financial year, with new ranges across key categories including home improvement.
Mr Coulter also noted a strong start to the new financial year, with sales up 26 per cent year-on-year in the first six weeks.
“We continue to execute on our ambition of growing market share and establishing Temple & Webster as the go to brand for the next generation of home shopper,” he said.
Temple & Webster sells over 200,000 products, which are shipped directly to customers via a drop-shipping model. This allows faster delivery times and reduces the need to hold inventory.
UBS analyst Tim Piper said the full-year results were better than expected, with Temple & Webster continuing to take material market share and customer numbers are clearly back to growth.
Along with the full-year results, Temple & Webster announced it had appointed Cameron Barnsley as chief financial officer.