DJs warns of pain as sales drop

THE owner of department store David Jones, South Africa’s Woolworths Holdings, has described the current trading environment as “extremely challenging’’ as it releases its latest update for 2018.

In a statement issued to the South African stock exchange yesterday, Woolworths Holdings revealed that its Country Road Group had once again shown signs of stress to report falling sales, while its flagship David Jones stores had also suffered shrinking sales.

Woolworths Holdings told its investors that 2018 had been a difficult year for the group, as it contended with “extremely challenging trading conditions” in South Africa and Australia. It said overall group sales for the 52 weeks to June 24 increased by 1.6 per cent compared to the prior year.

David Jones reported a sales increase of 2.2 per cent in the second half.