Woolworths glad to see shoppers again

Fashion and food retailer Woolworths expects its interim profit to rise more than one fifth as more customers return to its physical stores, particularly in Australia, where governmentimposed lockdowns kept customers at home.

The company, valued at R68.7bn on the JSE, said on Wednesday that its headline earnings per share (Heps), a measure of profit that strips out impairments and one-off items, would jump at least 33.6c in the 26 weeks to December 25, from the 168.2c reported in the matching period in 2021. Meanwhile,

group turnover and concession sales rose 23.3% in the 20 weeks to November 13. Online sales fell 13.7% as customers ditched the digital experience.

However, Woolworths noted the base effects in comparing the results because of lost sales in Australia due to the lockdowns.

According to its latest annual results, 65.52% of turnover came from SA, 31.83% from Australia and the rest from other parts of Africa.

Business Day reported in August that Woolworths was beginning to see an improvement in its SA clothing business, which had been losing market share in previous years. In

Southern Africa, its fashion, beauty and home businesses had a strong start with turnover and concession sales rising 10.8% because full-priced sales grew 15.2% and clearance sales fell 20%.

The turnover and concession sales of the food business were up 7.3% despite disruptions from power cuts, which had a “pronounced impact on our predominantly fresh categories across the business” in terms of foregone sales, increased waste and significant increases in diesel costs to support trade during load-shedding.

Prices went up 6.3% on average during this period. Woolworths is under increasing pressure from Checkers and Pick n Pay, which are investing in highend ranges and smarter stores, while having also rolled out ondemand online delivery more quickly.

Sales were up in Australia and New Zealand, with David Jones and the Country Road Group punching above their pre-pandemic levels.

Turnover at David Jones and concession sales soared 55.3% and Country Road 36.2%, underpinned by a strong performance by the Country Road, Politix and Witchery brands.

The company’s share price jumped the most in three weeks, up 3.8% at R67.