Harvey Norman reveals full-year cost of Clive Peeters and Rick Hart

Reports 9 percent profit jump but delivers cautious outlook.

Harvey Norman reported a 9 percent rise in full-year net profit to $252 million, a result which was weighed down by a $41.07 million loss following its purchase of Clive Peeters and Rick Hart.

The company suffered from the floods earlier this year which created disruption especially in Queensland and northern NSW.

And it provided a cautious outlook for the next financial year citing “global volatility, increased utility costs, possible increase in unemployment numbers, dampened housing markets and weak equity markets”.

Investors responded in kind shedding nearly 2 percent from Harvey Norman’s shares by late afternoon trade.

Major projects continued to march towards completion including Harvey Norman’s 72,000 sqm homemaker centre in Springvale, Victoria, which it said would be the largest of its kind in Australia.

Harvey Norman said its ecommerce site would be the most significant addition to its bottom line next year. The statement was based on market intelligence gained from its photo-finishing and Domayne websites, the former to be upgraded to a software-on-demand service next year.

Harvey Norman was progressing with business projects overseas including the 10,000 sqm Space Singapore superstore due to open in September, soon to be complemented by a sister store in Kuala Lumpur. A similarly sized facility would open in Croatia in October.