Jane Harper
January 30, 2013
News Limited Network
RETAIL giant Wesfarmers says record customers levels over the crucial Christmas period had boosted sales across all the group’s businesses.
Managing director Richard Goyder said a strong performance from supermarket Coles, hardware store Bunnings and discount department store Kmart were particularly pleasing.
Total sales at Coles hit $18.3 billion in the six months to December, up 4.7 per cent from the same period in the previous year, while food and liquor sales were up 5 per cent to $14.3 billion.
Key like-for-like food and liquor sales, which strip out the impact of stores that have opened or closed, were up 3.8 per cent for the six months.
Coles managing director Ian McLeod said the store’s five-year turnaround project to improve quality, service and value had attracted more customers and benefited suppliers through higher volumes.
“The response to our initiatives has been encouraging, with a record number of customers and almost $1 billion of sales achieved in the week leading up to Christmas,” he said.
Coles, which has been locked in an aggressive price war with rival Woolworths for the past three years, said food and liquor prices in the second quarter fell 0.9 per cent as a result of lower fresh produce prices.
Bunnings reported a 5.7 per cent rise in sales during the half to $4.01 billion.
Managing director John Gillam said Bunnings increased its sales in both consumer and commercial areas.
“We continue to make good progress on our key strategic priorities delivering better service, improving our consumer and commercial offers, expanding the store network, optimising the supply chain and reducing our cost of doing business,” Mr Gillam said.” Collectively, this is positioning the business well for the longer term.”
The group’s discretionary retail arms also chalked up mixed results, with Kmart’s first-half sales up 3.5 per cent to $2.4 billion. Like-for-like sales were also up 3.7 per cent.
Target, which has struggled amid the tough retail climate and has embarked on a major turnaround, said sales increased 1.2 per cent to $2.12 billion. But like-for-like sales were down 0.2 per cent compared with last year.
Target managing director Dene Rogers, said he was satisfied with progress made during the half, with significant investment made towards the chain’s long-term strategy.
“We are encouraged by the customer response to initiatives already implemented, particularly in our footwear, intimates and childrenswear categories,” Mr Rogers said. “Our online stores performance was encouraging and we have significantly increased the number of items now available for purchase.”
Sales at Officeworks rose increased 0.3 per cent to $712 million for the six months. Growth in online sales exceeded 10 per cent, but total store sales for the half were 0.1 per cent below the previous corresponding period.
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