annual report - Harvey Norman Company Reports & Announcements

DIRECTOR‟S REPORT (CONTINUED)
Dividends
The directors recommend a fully franked dividend of 4.0
cents per share to be paid on 3 December 2012 (total
dividend, fully franked - $42,492,671). The following fully
franked dividends of the parent entity have also been
paid, declared or recommended since the end of the
preceding financial year:
Dividend Payment Date $
2011 final fully
franked dividend
2012 interim fully
franked dividend
18
5 December 2011 63,739,007
7 May 2012 53,115,839
The dividend payment in respect of the year ended 30
June 2012 represents 55.43% (2011: 50.54%) of profit after
tax and non-controlling interests, as set out on page 3 of
the financial statements.
Review of Group Operations
The total equity of the consolidated entity for the year
ended 30 June 2012 increased over the previous
financial year due to the following:
Net profit generated by the Franchising Operations
segment;
Profit attributable to increased rental income from
franchisees and external tenants;
Net profit generated by the retail operations in
Singapore, Malaysia and Slovenia.
Significant Changes in the State of Affairs
In the opinion of the directors, there were no significant
changes in the state of affairs of the consolidated entity
that occurred during the financial year.
Likely Developments and Future Results
The directors have excluded from this report any further
information on the likely developments in the operations
of the consolidated entity and the expected results of
those operations in future financial years, as the
directors believe that it would be likely to result in
unreasonable prejudice to one or more entities in the
consolidated entity.
Significant Events After Balance Date
In early July 2012, the Company announced the
restructure of the Irish and Northern Irish businesses with
the aim of reducing future losses and increasing growth.
The main features of the restructure include:
The launch of a large new furniture and bedding
store in West Dublin;
The launch of Harvey Norman Online, a new ecommerce
initiative in Ireland and Northern Ireland;
The closure of the store located at Mullingar, Ireland
which has underperformed;
The reformatting of the Dundalk Outlet store in
Ireland to focus on the furniture and bedding
categories;
The reformatting of the two stores in Northern Ireland
located at Newtownabbey and Holywood to focus
on the furniture and bedding categories.
The consolidated entity is in the process of assessing and
quantifying the impact of the proposed restructure and,
based on early estimates, does not believe that the costs
would have a material impact to the results of the group.
Environmental Regulation Performance
The consolidated entity‟s environmental obligations are
regulated under both State and Federal Law. All
environmental performance obligations are monitored by
the Board. The consolidated entity has a policy of at least
complying, but in most cases exceeding its environmental
performance obligations. No environmental breaches
have been notified to the consolidated entity by any
Government agency during the year ended 30 June 2012
and up to the date of this report.
Company Secretary
Mr Chris Mentis, aged 46, is a chartered accountant and
became Company Secretary on 20 April 2006. Mr. Mentis
has over 25 years experience in financial accounting and
has been with the consolidated entity since 1997. Mr.
Mentis is a member of the Institute of Chartered
Secretaries.