Fantastic: brighter outlook for retail

21 October 2009

The Government's economic stimulus measures have given rise to increased consumer confidence and a resulting boost to furniture sales, according to furniture retailer and manufacturer Fantastic Holdings.

Fantastic this week reported an upbeat start to the 2010 fiscal year, with earnings for the six months to December 2009 expected to be "materially greater" than the previous corresponding period.

A spokesperson for Fantastic said the company anticipated earnings before interest to increase by between 65 and 75 per cent compared with the six months to December 2008.

"The period to December 2008 was impacted negatively by the global finance collapse and the sharp reduction in the relative value of the Australian dollar against the US dollar."

"It would now appear that financial markets have stabilised and together with the positive impact of the government stimuli, consumer confidence in Australia has risen significantly.

"Furthermore, the Australian dollar has strengthened against the US dollar."

Fantastic declined to give an estimate for the 2010 fiscal year, saying it did not expect gains of this magnitude for the full year as the second performance to June 2009 was considerably stronger than the first half."

Fantastic's sentiments are underpinned by recent data from market researcher Roy Morgan. According to the Roy Morgan Consumer Confidence Rating conducted on the weekend of October 10/11, consumer confidence is now 38.7 points higher than a year ago. The Rating also confirmed increasing confidence among Australians about buying major household items, with more than half of (53%) saying now is a good time to buy major household items.

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