** Shares of Nick Scali NCK.AX rise as much as 12.3% to an all-time high of A$18.300
** Furniture retailer posts HY statutory NPAT of A$30 million ($18.84 million), 15% ahead of Visible Alpha consensus estimate
** Declares interim dividend of 30 Australian cents per share, beating consensus estimate of 24.2 Australian cents
** Co, however, says trading continues to be volatile for its Australia and New Zealand division, with written sales orders down 8.5% in January
** Market is likely to look through softening top line ANZ trends, given broader medium term macro outlook appears to be improving - Citi
** As of last close, NCK up 8.5% YTD
($1 = 1.5921 Australian dollars)
(Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru)
((Himanshi.Akhand@thomsonreuters.com;))