JB Hi-Fi boss Terry Smart says many of the electronics retailers’ products have become essential purchases for Australian households, a shift which could insulate the business from a predicted slowdown in consumer spending.

The business served up a final dividend of $1.53 for investors on Monday and management were upbeat about the outlook when revealing a $544.9 million profit for 2022.

Analysts have been wary about sales momentum at JB Hi-Fi in the coming months, with predictions that “discretionary” spending in categories such as apparel and electronics will be slowed by rising interest rates and falling property prices.

However, Smart said many of the product categories performing strongly over the past year, such as phones and computers, are things consumers are no longer willing to go without.

“A lot of those are just so integrated into people’s lives — as a result, people will replace them pretty quickly, and they will upgrade them quickly to get to the newest technology,” he said.

“It becomes less and less discretionary - that is where they are going to spend their money, if they are going to spend it.”

Consumers spent big on whitegoods and home appliances at The Good Guys in 2022, where gross profit was up 6.8 per cent for the year to $649.9 million.

Shoppers snapped up laundry appliances, dishwashers, coffee machines and vacuum cleaners - both stick and robot - to push total sales up by 7.8 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Smart said he was happy with the performance of the whitegoods business, which JB Hi-Fi bought in 2016 for $870 million.