Covid 19 coronavirus: The Warehouse Group to refund a wage subsidy of 68 million dollars

By RNZ

Warehouse Group will reimburse his $ 68 million wage subsidy.

The group, which includes retailers such as The Warehouse, The Warehouse Stationery, Noel Leeming and Torpedo 7, claimed the money in April as the closings cut their profits.

However, the group was criticized by unions, commentators and some politicians, including the prime minister, for taking the money, proceeding to lay off staff and then reporting an annual profit of $ 44.5 million.

Without the subsidy, the company would have had a loss of just over $ 4 million.

At the time, the company’s director, Nick Grayston, defended the measures, saying the company had been unfairly targeted.

In a stock exchange update this afternoon, he said the company was now in a position to pay the money back due to heavy business operations in the run-up to Christmas.

“Due to this sustained sales momentum, [profit after tax] for the semester it is expected to exceed $ 70 million, which is the impact prior to the reimbursement of the wage subsidy, compared to $ 46.2 million in [2020 financial year].

“We are grateful to have received the government wage subsidy that allowed us to commit to paying our 11,000 team members quickly and in full, during a time of great uncertainty.”

First-quarter sales for the group increased 6.3 percent and are now up 6.6 percent year-to-date this year compared to the same period last year.

Grayston said conditions were better than expected.

“We could not have achieved this position without the improvements our teams have made to our stores, our digital platform, distribution and fulfillment centers, and our support offices. This result is particularly notable given the negative impact of availability issues in shipping out of our control.

“Stock levels remain satisfactory for the summer and back to school period, however due to international shipping delays and continued increased demand, there may be some delays in the delivery of some of our products. of winter. We will continue to monitor this situation closely and operational adjustments as necessary. “

The full-year guidance will be issued when the financial results for the first half are released in March.