News: JBH UPDATE 1-Australia's JB Hi-Fi annual profit beats guidance, shares hit record high

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Aug 12 (Reuters) - Australian electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi Ltd (JBH) defied a gloomy retail market to report a 7% increase in annual underlying profit on Monday, with growth largely driven by its communications, audio and fitness categories.

The result propelled its stock to a record high in early trade, up as much as 13% against the benchmark (xjo) , which traded slightly lower.

The strong result came despite a steep downturn in household spending due to a drop in property prices.

As consumers tighten their purse strings, retailers have struggled to boost sales while their profit margins have shrunk due to fierce competition from online retailers such as online e-commerce giant Amazon.com Inc AMZN.O

JB Hi-Fi's underlying net profit after tax, which excludes significant items, rose to A$249.8 million ($169.4 million) for the year ending June 30, from A$233.2 million the previous year.

It beat its own guidance for full year net profit, which it had forecast at between A$237 million and A$245 million.

In both the Australian and New Zealand businesses, the communications, audio and fitness categories were key drivers of growth, the company said.

The final dividend took the full year's payout to 142 cents per share, up 10 cents on the previous year.

The home consumer products retailer flagged sales growth would slow this year, forecasting total group sales in fiscal 2020 would rise 2% to around A$7.25 billion. Sales last year grew 3.5%.

"Whilst we continue to see variability in the sales environment, we enter FY20 confident in our ability to execute and grow market share," Chief Executive Richard Murray said in a statement. ($1 = 1.4749 Australian dollars)