Appliance maker Breville has posted double-digit profit and revenue growth and dodged the worst of a huge trade shake-up in its biggest market.
When US President Donald Trump announced sweeping "Liberation Day" tariffs in April, Breville had already brought its US inventory forward and had laid groundwork to diversity its manufacturing from China.
The company's popular coffee machines led group revenue growth of 10.9 per cent to $1.7 billion in the year to June 30, while net profit after tax surged from $118.5 million to $135.9 million.
The return to double-digit revenue growth came after years of macro uncertainty and post-COVID normalisation, but the US tariff program had thrown another spanner in the works, chief executive and managing director Jim Clayton said.
"This bifurcated reality required rapid, forward-leaning tactical execution for the Americas, while maintaining the steady cadence of progress on multi-year strategic initiatives," he said.
Breville now has manufacturing locations in Mexico and Southeast Asia to complement its China operations, but its boss noted the tariffs impacting the new locations could change.
While the nimble strategy helped Breville hit the top end of its forward guidance, Mr Clayton admitted the evolving US tariff policy and input cost inflation would continue to test the manufacturer in the year ahead.
"Our strong balance sheet and unleveraged position gives us flexibility to react to challenges, so we are better placed than many, but FY26 is expected to be a dynamic year for the Americas," he said.
While memories of President Trump's threatened 145 per cent tariffs on China imports had faded, the eventual 55 per cent duty was still a material increase to input costs, chief financial officer Martin Nicholas said.
"The tariff turbulence and excitement is contained to one market, it's just that it's our largest single country," Mr Nicholas told an investor briefing.
"It is too early to tell how things will play out over the next 12 to 18 months and what the net impact of these changes will be."
Group earnings before interest and tax surged more than ten per cent to $205 million, helping the group declare a fully-franked dividend of 37 cents per share, up from 33 cents in the 2024 financial year.
Despite the impressive figures, the step-up in input costs for the US market has weighed on earnings expectations for the year ahead, sending Breville shares almost six per cent lower to $34.66.
