A spending flurry ahead of the October 1 GST increase helped lift Briscoe Group's third quarter sales to $89.8 million.
The operator of the Briscoes, Rebel Sport and Living & Giving stores this morning revealed its unaudited sales for the thirteen we
A spending flurry ahead of the October 1 GST increase helped lift Briscoe Group's third quarter sales to $89.8 million.
The operator of the Briscoes, Rebel Sport and Living & Giving stores this morning revealed its unaudited sales for the thirteen weeks to October 31 were $5.5 million or 6.51% ahead of the same time last year.
Total stores in the group had dropped to 88 after the closure of two Living & Giving stores during the quarter, but on a same store basis, group sales were 6.11% ahead of the same period last year.
Homeware sales rose 6.16% to $61.5 million while sporting goods sales increased 7.27% to $28.2 million for the quarter.
Managing director Rod Duke said although September sales were impacted by the Christchurch earthquake, this was followed by a significant late rally in sales leading up to the October 1 increase to GST.
“During October, however, we have experienced further tightening of sales and margin.”
The result boosted unaudited total group sales for the year so far to $279.9 million - to $279.9 million, an increase of 3.83% on the first nine months of last year
Mr Duke said he remained confident the group’s full-year net profit would be ahead of the $21.03 million reported for last year.
“This will of course be heavily influenced by the strength or otherwise of the retail market over the Christmas period,” he said.
"As we begin the crucial final quarter we remain cautiously optimistic in our outlook. The recent cuts to personal tax rates should help boost the potential for increased retail sales however, the extent to which this is offset by increases in fuel, power and general living costs, remains to be seen.”
