Temple & Webster chief executive Mark Coulter is "more confident than he's ever been" that the online furniture and homewares retailer will remain Australia's biggest, even as it reported a 47 per cent drop in half-yearly profit to $3.9 million.
Temple shares were pummelled by the market after Tuesday's earnings report, plummeting by about one-quarter.
The company recorded a 12 per cent decline in revenue from the previous year to $207m, as the end of COVID-19 lockdowns caused customers to return to bricks and mortar shopping.
Sales for the first five weeks of 2023 were down seven per cent on the previous corresponding period, when the Omicron outbreak was boosting e-commerce sales.
Mr Coulter was philosophical about the market's reaction, telling AAP he was solely focused on things within the company's control.
"I learnt a long time ago just to focus on the customer," he said.
"If we keep giving great customer service, make sure we keep focusing on our range and our pricing, the rest will look after itself.
"In a few years' time when we're a much bigger business, this will be a relative blip on the radar."
Despite a decline in earnings over the entire half, Mr Coulter is happy with the company's second quarter results, which delivered increased profitability on the previous corresponding period.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Wei-Weng Chen said Temple & Webster made no reference to prior suggestions of a return to double-digit growth in 2022/23, which indicates the second half is likely to be more challenging than consensus forecasts.
But despite the drop in earnings, Mr Chen said there were plenty of positives.
Underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) beat consensus estimates by 10 per cent and improved second quarter trading showed signs of cost pressures abating.
Temple & Webster drop-ships 72 per cent of sales, meaning it does not handle the product and only acts as a third party between seller and buyer, reducing inventory risk.
Mr Coulter said the company was focused on margin optimisation and cost management and has made significant savings by lowering its headcount without lay-offs or restructuring.
While he said Temple & Webster has no plans to lay off any of its approximately 500 staff, it will continue to look for efficiency gains.
The company also announced it was dialling back spending on home improvement site The Build from $10m to $6m.
But Mr Coulter remains bullish about the segment as millennials enter the home renovations market and is committed to investment in The Build long term.
"It's a big category," he said.
"It feels very similar to furniture and homewares did 10 years ago, but it's a longer-term play.
"Whether we go really hard this year or phase a little bit over a couple of years, we don't think it's going to make that much difference long term."
Shares were sitting around $3.68 at 2pm, representing a six-month low.
Temple & Webster did not announce a dividend.
