Sales up almost one-fifth in 20 weeks

WOOLWORTHS, South Africa’s biggest retailer by market value, said sales gained 18 percent, the most in three months, in the first 20 weeks of its financial year. They were boosted by clothing, food, and Australian chain David Jones. Excluding David Jones, which Woolworths bought for about US$2 billion (R28.6bn at yesterday’s rate) last year, revenue advanced 12 percent in the period ending November 15, the Cape Town-based company said on Tuesday. That was in line with the same period last year. South African retailers are showing positive momentum as a more reliable power supply and falling fuel prices help consumers. Retail sales probably rose 4.1 percent in September, according to the average estimate of economists polled by Bloomberg, compared with 3.9 percent the previous month. Woolworths shares increased as much as 4.5 percent, the most since August 25, and traded 3.36 percent higher at R103.50 in Johannesburg. That extended the year’s gain to about 35 percent, valuing the company at R100bn. – Bloomberg

MR PRICE

MR PRICE yesterday reported an improvement in profits for the company’s latest half year despite tough economic conditions. The retail company announced an increase in diluted headline earnings per share of 16.6 percent to 406.8c for the 26 weeks ended September 26, and also hiked its interim dividend by 17.3 percent to 248c. Mr Price shares on the JSE fell by 5.52 percent to R202.19 yesterday. Total revenue grew by 9.2 percent to R9bn while retail sales increased by 8.6 percent to R8.6bn. Cash sales grew by 9 percent, ahead of credit sales of 6.7 percent. “The economy is not in good shape and consumer confidence is understandably low, but our model is built to withstand these conditions,” said chief executive Stuart Bird. “The timing of the Easter school holidays and the late onset of winter did not aid the first half. These factors largely resulted in the comparatively lower sales and unit growth,” he said. – Staff Reporter