Sales spike just super for retailer

SHARES in the owner of Supercheap Auto and sporting apparel chain Rebel have surged almost 9 per cent after both retailers chalked up further sales growth.

Super Retail Group said yesterday that like-for-like sales — which strip out the impact of shops opening and closing — grew 2.2 per cent in the first four months this year, compared with the same period a year earlier.

Like-for-like sales growth at Supercheap Auto was 4.4 per cent in the same period, the group said.

But at its boating, camping and fishing goods retailer BCF, like-for-like sales dipped 0.4 per cent. The company pinned the decline on a slide in Queensland sales related to poor weather.

Chief executive Peter Birtles said Super Retail expected its earnings margin for the full financial year to be in line with the previous year’s result, while its buyout this year of the Macpac outdoor goods business would contribute about $5 million in earnings, he said.

Shares in Super Retail plunged 14.5 per cent when it announced the Macpac deal and weaker-than-expected first-half earnings, and had remained near six-year lows since. They yesterday closed 8.6 per cent higher at $7.57.