A$2.1m to A$10m: the line Michael Hill's July update left out
The audited full year gives the profit figure the trading update did not. Net profit rose from A$2.1 million to A$10.0 million, and net debt fell from A$41.9 million to A$5.5 million, on group sales of A$654.7 million.
By Carat Capital Retail Desk
What changed
Michael Hill has published the audited result for the 52 weeks to 28 June 2026, and it carries the number its July trading update did not. Net profit came to A$10.0 million against A$2.1 million a year earlier, which is 4.76 times the prior figure.
What it means
- The debt line is the one to keep. A mid-market chain that took A$36.4 million of net debt off its balance sheet in a year while closing a net six doors and lifting same-store sales 3% has bought itself the thing that mid-market jewellery chains almost never have, which is the ability to sit out a bad Christmas.
- The profit multiple will be quoted everywhere and it is the least informative number in the release. A$5.5 million of net debt is the one that changes what this company can do next year.
Key figures
| net profit, from A$2.1m | A$10.0m |
|---|---|
| net debt, from A$41.9m | A$5.5m |
| group sales, from A$641.6m | A$654.7m |
| net margin, from 0.33% | 1.53% |
Source: Michael Hill, 52 weeks to 28 June 2026
The audited year carries the number July did not
Net debt at the balance date was A$5.5 million against A$41.9 million in 2025, a reduction of A$36.4 million or 86.87%. Group sales were A$654.7 million, up 2.04% on FY25's A$641.6 million, with group same-store sales up 3.0%, Australia up 4.8%, Canada up 7.0% and New Zealand up 3.6%.
The test this desk set on 3 August, and the answer
This desk reported the sales side on 3 August and closed that piece with an explicit test: judge it again when the profit line lands, because 2% of revenue growth against a metal that rose for most of the year is compatible with several very different margin outcomes.
The line has landed and the answer is the favourable one. Net margin went from 0.33% of sales to 1.53%.
That is still a thin margin by any standard, and it is roughly four and a half times thinner than it looks in the growth rate, which is the ordinary arithmetic of quadrupling a very small number.
One figure that needs disclosing rather than smoothing
One figure needs disclosing rather than smoothing over. Rapaport's report of the result gives group revenue as A$655.7 million. The company's own release, and the several independent accounts of it this desk checked, give A$654.7 million against a prior year of A$641.6 million.
This paper printed A$654.7 million on 3 August and prints it again today, because that is the figure the company published and it reconciles with the stated 2.0% growth rate. Readers should treat the higher number as an outside-source divergence, not as a revision.
The store maths, and the chair
The store maths reconciles cleanly with what was reported in July and is worth restating because it is the strategy.
The network finished at 281 shops, 157 in Australia, 81 in Canada and 43 in New Zealand, down from 287 after eight closures and two openings, with four of those openings and closings reshaped into flagship formats across Australia and Canada.
Chief executive Jonathan Waecker said the company had "simplified the business, and we've doubled down on quality jewelry". Rob Fyfe retires as chair at the end of November after five years in the seat and twelve on the board, with deputy chair Claudia Batten named to succeed him.