Coles Myer continues strong growth
Sales up across first quarter
Coles Myer, Australia’s biggest retail group, has enjoyed another strong quarter, with sales up 20.7 per cent to $8.5bn in the three months to October 24.
Group like-for-like sales grew by 5.4 per cent with its core food and liquor sales up 6.6 per cent. The group said its food business continued to “attract new customers and gain share in a competitive market”, with nine new supermarkets and six liquor outlets opened in the quarter.
The new Coles Express convenience format saw sales more than triple nationally to $1.3bn. While sales were inflated by increases fuel prices, the group said underlying trends also continued to show improvement.
The Kmart chain saw sales increase by 8.9 per cent, with comparative sales growth of 7.5 per cent. Growth was driven by a strong product offer with apparel, footwear, toys and homeware performing well.
The group’s Officeworks chain saw sales growth of 8 per cent. However, the Myer and Megamart business saw a combined sales decline of 0.5 per cent, hit by the removal of a shareholder discount across the group, which particularly hit electrical and white goods sales.
Coles Myer CEO John Fletcher said: “In a highly competitive marketplace, our food and liquor sales growth outpaced the market, and Target, Kmart and Officeworks continued to make excellent sales gains.”
