It looks like Harvey Norman franchises have well and truly seen the worst of the financial crisis, with profits before tax for the six months to 31 December expected to be 40 per cent more than for the same time last year.

The directors of Harvey Norman Holdings Limited announced yesterday that sales from the franchised stores in Australia totalled $1.93 billion from 1 July to 22 November, 2009. This is a 7.7 per cent improvement on the $1.79 billion made over the corresponding period in the previous year.

Like-for-like sales for the same period this year were up 5.9 per cent compared to that of last year.

According to Inside Retailing, Gerry Harvey recently told journalists Our sales this year are going to be an absolute record. This is going to be the biggest Christmas we have ever had – we are going to break all records.

Unaudited preliminary accounts for 1 July to 31 October, as well as current economic trends, indicate that pre-tax profits for the second half of 2009 should exceed that of 2008 by more than 40 per cent.

There are currently 195 Harvey Norman franchises in Australia.