The Warehouse Group Limited (WHS) Earnings Call Transcripts

The Warehouse Group Limited's Latest Earnings Call - March 26, 2026

The Warehouse Group Limited reported its FY 2026 interim results, showing a slight increase in sales to $1.6 billion, up 0.3% year-over-year, and an operating profit of $26.9 million, up 37.7% from FY 2025 H1. Despite a challenging retail environment, the company maintained sales and improved profitability through cost control. However, the board decided not to declare an interim dividend due to economic uncertainties. Management highlighted a cautious outlook for the second half, with potential impacts from geopolitical tensions and rising freight costs.

Reported metrics

Guidance from management

Management is cautious about the second half of FY '26, focusing on margin recovery, cost reductions, and inventory management. They noted potential impacts from geopolitical tensions and rising freight costs.

What management said

Kieran, thanks for your question. So you saw on the announcement that sales for the first 6 weeks were down 0.2%. There's nothing in the last 2 weeks that are substantially different in that trend between the rest of that period. So I think you can kind of say that it's a pretty flat performance over the full 6 weeks.

Yes. Thanks, Kieran. So you obviously saw that our cost of doing business dropped below that 31% target, which we have been aspiring to. Clearly, that's helped by the fact that we have the peak period trading in this in the first half. And so it's great progress. You've seen things like support office costs down 8% last half. It's down another 8% again this half. But also, we are acknowledging that in the second half...

What analysts pressed on

Analysts expressed concerns about the impact of rising fuel and freight costs on margins and whether the company would increase prices to offset these pressures. There were also questions about market share in Noel Leeming compared to competitors like JB Hi-Fi.

Main topics on the call

• Sales Performance — Sales were $1.6 billion, a 0.3% increase from the previous year. Warehouse Stationery showed strong performance with sales up 5.7%, while Noel Leeming's sales declined by 1.2%.
• Cost Control and Profitability — Operating profit improved to $26.9 million, up 37.7% from FY '25 H1, due to disciplined cost control. The cost of doing business decreased by 1.7%, achieving a target below 31% of sales.
• Dividend Suspension — The board decided not to declare an interim dividend due to economic uncertainties, which may disappoint shareholders.
• Inventory Management — Inventory decreased by 4.7% compared to last year, with improvements in stock turn and aged inventory management.

Read the full The Warehouse Group Limited transcript (March 26, 2026) → Summary generated from the call transcript; every figure above is stated by management on the record.

Earnings Call History

EarningsCalls.dev has 18 The Warehouse Group Limited earnings call transcripts on record, spanning March 16, 2020 to March 26, 2026. Based on this history, The Warehouse Group Limited reports semi-annually. The most recent call on file is dated March 26, 2026. The full list is below — each row opens the complete, free-to-read transcript.

Ticker

WHS

Exchange

NZSE

Country

NZ

Sector

Consumer Discretionary

Industry

Broadline Retail

Calls on record

18

First call

March 16, 2020

Most recent

March 26, 2026

Reporting cadence

semi-annually