Shares dip over slowing sales

WOOLWORTHS fell the most in more than seven months after the food and clothing retailer reported slowing sales growth as the continent’s second-biggest economy falters. The stock declined as much as 4.9 percent, the steepest intraday fall since April 9, and ended the day trading 3.41 percent down at R78.24 in Johannesburg, valuing the company at about R73 billion. The retailer’s domestic food sales for the 20 weeks to November 16 advanced 13 percent, compared with a 17 percent increase in a comparable period of 2013. At stores open for a year or more, they rose 7.9 percent. Clothing sales growth slowed to 8.8 percent from 11 percent a year earlier. So called same-store sales were up 3.4 percent, the Cape Town-based company said yesterday. South African retailers have struggled this year as strikes and unemployment of more than 25 percent constrain consumer spending. Retailers are facing economic growth of 1.4 percent, the slowest since 2009, while inflation is close to the upper limit of the Reserve Bank’s target range. South Africa is the company’s biggest market. – Bloomberg