{"id":616012,"date":"2026-09-30T04:32:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T04:32:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/616012\/"},"modified":"2026-09-30T04:32:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-30T04:32:11","slug":"the-warehouse-reports-loss-but-noel-leeming-leads-group-back-to-profit-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/616012\/","title":{"rendered":"The Warehouse reports loss but Noel Leeming leads group back to profit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Warehouse Group has posted a $11 million profit, bouncing back from a loss in the previous financial year.  <\/p>\n<p>The retail group, which operates The Warehouse, Warehouse Stationery, and Noel Leeming stores, described its results for the 2026 financial year as a &#8220;strong recovery&#8221;.  <\/p>\n<p>The $11.2 million net profit after tax comes after <a href=\"https:\/\/www.1news.co.nz\/2025\/10\/02\/the-warehouse-group-blames-28-million-loss-on-challenging-economy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">the previous year&#8217;s $2.8 million net loss<\/a>. Operating profit increased to $22.6 million from $1.3 million in the previous financial year, while gross profit margin was up 40 basis points to 32.6%.  <\/p>\n<p>The Group&#8217;s flagship red shed brand, The Warehouse, remained loss-making but showed signs of improvement \u2013 reporting an operating loss of $7.5 million, up from the previous year&#8217;s $12.2 million loss. <\/p>\n<p>Noel Leeming made the biggest contribution to the result, posting an operating profit of $21.8 million, up from FY15&#8217;s $11.7 million.  Warehouse Stationery&#8217;s profit increased to $15.9 million from $8.2 million. <\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790742730_652_the-warehouse-group-has-announced-a-net-loss-after-tax-of-do-TXZKFK2AY5CQ7EUQCFXTV4FWWY.jpg\" alt=\"The Warehouse Group has announced a net loss after tax of $52.2 million, down from $29.8 million last year.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-hi5x8q-0 cWTYyG image-metadata\">The Warehouse Group has announced a net loss after tax of $52.2 million, down from $29.8 million last year. (Source: Getty)<\/p>\n<p>Reported sales across the Group were down 1.9% to $3 billion on a 53-week FY25 basis, but up 0.4% on a comparative 52-week same-store basis.  <\/p>\n<p>The Group&#8217;s cost of doing business fell by $29.8 million to 31.8% of sales, an improvement of 40 basis points.  <\/p>\n<p>Operating cash flow was $193.5 million, up $121.2 million, and capital expenditure increased to $21.1 million from $12.4 million the previous year, with investment primarily directed to stores. <\/p>\n<p>The company&#8217;s net debt was $17 million, a reduction from $96.1 million in the 2025 financial year.  <\/p>\n<p>The company declared no final dividend for investors.  <\/p>\n<p>The Group said margin growth was driven by stronger buying and retailing discipline, improved ranges, tighter inventory management, and a higher proportion of full-price sales<\/p>\n<p>Group chair John Journee said the company had made &#8220;meaningful progress&#8221; during the year, taking action that allowed it to finish in a &#8220;much stronger position&#8221;.   <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This progress was driven by actions taken within the business rather than an improvement in market conditions, creating a stronger foundation for the next stage of our recovery. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;While the Board is pleased with the progress made, materially improving profitability remains our primary ambition.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/1790742731_127_the-warehouse-group-ceo-mark-stirton-WSPBRHCTPRA6VBGKTKDXHO7CHI.png\" alt=\"The Warehouse Group CEO Mark Stirton. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><\/p>\n<p class=\"ImageMetadata__MetadataParagraph-sc-hi5x8q-0 cWTYyG image-metadata\">The Warehouse Group CEO Mark Stirton.  (Source: The Warehouse Group)<\/p>\n<p>CEO Mark Stirton said the result showed internal changes were gaining traction.  <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Our teams have worked incredibly hard through another year of significant change. We&#8217;re buying better, managing inventory more effectively, improving our ranges and pricing, and running the business with greater discipline. <\/p>\n<p>&#8220;At the same time, we&#8217;re investing again in stores, the brand, customer experience and growth. We&#8217;ve made a good start, but our ambitions are much bigger, especially for The Warehouse, where we\u2019re determined to earn back our place as New Zealanders&#8217; first choice retailer.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The Group said sales in the first weeks of the 2027 financial year had been &#8220;broadly in line&#8221; with the year prior.  <\/p>\n<p>Stirton said improving performance would remain the Group&#8217;s biggest priority.  <\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith consumer confidence and economic growth subdued, retail conditions are expected to remain challenging. We can&#8217;t control those factors, so we&#8217;re concentrating on improving the areas within our control and delivering a better result regardless of market conditions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We will achieve that by delivering better value and a better customer experience through more relevant ranges, better pricing, better stock management and lower costs.&#8221; <\/p>\n<p class=\"text-greyDarkFaded\">The morning&#8217;s headlines in 90 seconds, including Opportunity&#8217;s challenge to National, and a big milestone for the world&#8217;s tallest bridge. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Warehouse Group has posted a $11 million profit, bouncing back from a loss in the previous financial&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":616013,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[138,111,139,69],"class_list":["post-616012","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616012","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=616012"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/616012\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/616013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=616012"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=616012"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=616012"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}