Slater and Gordon profits up 21.1%; Noni B profits fall by 2.8%; Domino’s first-half profits lift 38.8%: Midday roundup

Law firm Slater and Gordon has lifted it revenue by 22.3% in the first half of the 2013-14 financial year, following its acceleration into the United Kingdom market.

Revenue reached $178.3 million in the quarter, while net profits after tax also jumped 21.1% to $23 million.

Directors have declared a fully franked dividend of $0.03 cents a share.

“The results for the half year are very pleasing. We have been able to maintain a strong overall financial and operational performance in our Australian practice whilst accelerating our expansion into the UK market,” Slater and Gordon group managing director Andrew Grech said in a statement.

Shares in the company are currently up 3.44% in early trade to $4.355.

Noni B profits fall by 2.8%

Retailer Noni B has posted a 2.8% fall in profits after tax to $1.891 million, blaming difficult trading conditions.

The company’s revenue also fell 3% to $62.429 million, down from $64.343 million in the previous corresponding period.

“The difficult trading conditions we reported at the annual meeting in November continued during the remainder of the period, although sales improved slightly in December helped by additional promotions,” joint managing director David Kindl said in a statement to the ASX.

“Our average spend per customer was similar to the previous year, but shopping centre traffic into our stores was down.”

Domino’s first-half profits lift by 38.8%

Pizza chain Domino’s has posted a 38.8% leap in net profit after tax to $20.2 million for the first-half, following the opening of its 600^th Australasian store in the period.

Domino’s opened 60 new stores in the past six months across its group and acquired a 75% shareholding in Domino’s Pizza Japan.

Australia and New Zealand stores posted their highest first-half organic store growth since the 2006 to result in EBITDA growth of 21.3% of the division.

“It’s been a positive half year period for us and it’s great to see the results of further integrating Domino’s Pizza Japan into the network,” chief executive Don Meij said in a statement to the ASX.

CBA profits up 16%

Commonwealth Bank of Australia has posted a 16% increase in net profit after tax for the first-half, with the company saying its long term prioritisation of “people, technology, strength and productivity” was the driving factor.

Its statutory NPAT reached $4.207 billion and the bank declared a fully franked dividend of $1.83.

“All of our businesses have performed well. We have strengthened our focus on enhancing the financial well-being of our customers and have used our leading technology platform to deliver innovative products and services to business and personal customers,” group chief executive officer Ian Narev said in a statement to the ASX.

Shares up on open

The Australian sharemarket rose this morning after a flood of company earnings reports, including a strong lift in cash profit from the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. 

 At 1205 AEDT, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index added 0.32% to 5,271.2 points, while the broader All Ordinaries index rose 0.31% to 5,283.4 points.

Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets, said CBA’s result had lifted the market’s mood. 

“It has followed ANZ’s quarterly update with cash earnings beating average expectations. Despite CBA’s relatively cautious outlook statement, this result provides the bank with a solid platform to build results into what should be an improving environment for the banking sector,” he said.