Direct sourcing has been used successfully by other Australian businesses in recent years, including Myer and Coles, with Woolworths investigating opening an office in Thailand to cut out third-party agents and distributors.

Chief executive officer Peter Birtles told Fairfax Media the company was aiming to source products closer to the global price, which is about 20 per cent cheaper than in Australia. Shaving that cost off supply would enable the company to be more competitive, especially with the continuing influx of big international retailers hurting local businesses, he said.

"What we're looking to do long term is source as much of the product as we can at the point of manufacture, as opposed to sourcing it as it is being handled through the supply chain."

The strategy could help turn around the company's struggling leisure division, which was hammered in the past financial year by warmer than expected weather, increased competition, and low consumer confidence following the federal budget in May.

The company announced its full-year results on Thursday, producing a profit of $108.4 million after tax, a 5.6 per cent increase on the previous 12 months.

Group sales, including Rebel Sport, Ray's Outdoors, Supercheap Auto and Amart Sports, grew 4.6 per cent to $2.11 billion but was well down on the 22 per cent growth achieved one year prior.

The bottom-line results met modest market expectations of $108 million. The company issued a series of profit warnings during the past 10 months following lower than expected spending on outdoor leisure items.

The latest warning was issued following the Abbott government's contentious budget, which caused a dip in consumer demand across retail and, in particular, discretionary spending.

The auto division continues to perform strongly, maintaining its decade-long record of double-digit growth. The profit announcement was dragged down by news that most of that growth came from new stores and not increased sales from existing locations.

The company said an investment in supply chain and IT systems would eat into profits for the first half of the 2014-15 financial year, but the company expected a turnaround in the second half.

Mr Birtles agreed with Wesfarmers' managing director Richard Goyder, who said on Wednesday increasing sales in recent weeks pointed to consumer confidence starting to bounce back.

Mr Birtles said uncertainty over the budget was still holding confidence back, but it was not as pronounced.

"I think consumers are starting to see their new pay packets and the new financial year coming through ... there was a fair amount of scare-mongering, and maybe that's been not as significant as perceived.

"We've performed pretty well in our auto and sports divisions, we've had solid like-for-like sales," he said, adding that leisure continued to lag.

The company plans to open up to 30 new stores this financial year and refurbish up to another 80.

A fully franked dividend of 21.5 cents will be paid on October 2, bringing the full-year pay-out to shareholders to 40 cents.