It’s remarkable to think that a profitable eCommerce stock would be trading on the ASX at less than 1x revenue but that’s the case for undervalued retailer Harris Technology (ASX: HT8) which has reported a 73% jump in profit.
The bumper result comes alongside a 206% increase in revenue to $41.8 million compared to last year, delivering $1.75m net profit after tax.
As an agile online-only retailer, Harris Technology benefited at the start of the financial year from high margin sales of hygiene products. But even once demand for these products slowed with market saturation, the Company continued driving profits without incurring the costly expense of retail shopfronts whose foot traffic plummeted through the year.
“This excellent result was achieved despite increased competition in both the tech retail and online retail spaces which had an impact on margins, but as a pure-play online retailer, it was pleasing that Harris Technology was able to maintain margins circa 18% with a rapidly growing presence across all major eCommerce marketplaces,” said Harris Technology CEO, Garrison Huang.
“Going forward, Harris Technology is uniquely positioned to take advantage of the strong and sustained trend towards online shopping. We continue to benefit from new online traffic from marketing programs launched by platform owners and should continue to do so with planned expansion into new product categories.”
Having completed its 3-year turnaround strategy which commenced in 2019 to become an online-only retailer, Harris Technology has flagged plans to build on its profitable foundation into new markets. These include further product line expansions as well as entry into private label goods which can be sold at higher margins.
Such entry into private label goods would likely be via the tech products given the tech-heavy Board boasted by Harris Technology. Demand for such products is also likely to grow with home offices becoming a permanent fixture in homes as more businesses accept that working from home is the future of corporate life.
Private label goods have been one of the driving forces behind online furniture retailer Temple & Webster which recently reported $326.3m revenue for FY21 to be trading with a market cap of $1.6 billion, or 4.9x revenue.
Harris Technology in comparison last closed with a market cap of $32.7m, or 0.78x revenue.
With lockdowns reinstated in both Sydney and Melbourne shutting down shopping centres and stalling foot traffic, retailers have all reported similar frenzies towards their online channels in recent weeks as those witnessed at the start of the pandemic.
To accommodate this online shopping trend which Huang is confident will be sustained beyond the pandemic, Harris Technology has continued investing in its inventory. This has positioned the Company well to turn over higher volumes of products in the coming months through upgrades to their website and consolidation of their 4 small warehouses into 1 large complex that will improve operating logistics and dispatch times.
Harris Technology welcomes investors to join the HT8 investor mailing list for Company updates, industry research and investor discounts by subscribing here.
Alfred Chan is a Business Reporter at The Sentiment specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies, a bloodstock enthusiast and former equities analyst.
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