Woolworths lifts supermarket sales in NZ by 2.9%
Woolworths, which has about 40% of New Zealand's supermarket sales, lifted revenue by 2.9% at its Countdown-brand stores in the third quarter of the financial year.
BUSINESSDESK: Woolworths, which has about 40% of New Zealand’s supermarket sales, lifted revenue by 2.9% at its Countdown-brand stores in the third quarter of the financial year and claimed an increase in market share and customers.
Australia’s largest retailer said New Zealand supermarket sales rose to $1.397 billion in the 13 weeks ended April 1 from $1.358 billion in the same period a year earlier.
In Australian dollar terms, revenue rose 6.1%.
Sydney-based Woolworths has rebranded all its New Zealand supermarkets as Countdown, phasing out the Woolworths brand as it repositions the stores closer to the Pak’n’Save value brand of local rival Foodstuffs, which has 60 percent of the market.
“We experienced another quarter of pleasing sales growth and continued to build momentum by growing market share, customer numbers, items sold and basket size,” Woolworths NZ managing director Dave Chambers said.
Still, New Zealand’s economy “remains challenging with relatively static supermarket industry growth”.
Sales from consumer electronics in New Zealand, under the Dick Smith brand that Woolworths is putting up for sale, rose 2.7% to $77m.
New Zealand supermarkets account for about 7.7% of Woolworths’ total revenue, which rose 3.8% to $A14 billion in the latest quarter, the company reported today.
The bulk of that came from supermarkets in Australia, which posted a 3.7% gain in sales to $A12.2 billion.
‘‘This has been achieved in a continuing tight consumer market,’’ chief executive Grant O’Brien said.
“While the quarter saw an improving sales trend, we continue to remain cautious about the sales outlook for the fourth quarter, particularly given consumer and business uncertainty about the impact of the carbon tax and interest rates.”
Shares of Woolworths fell 0.7% to $A25.65 on the ASX today and have gained about 2.2% this year.
The stock is rated "outperform", based on the consensus in a Reuters poll, with a price target of $A27.31.
© All content copyright NBR. Do not reproduce in any form without permission, even if you have a paid subscription.
Woolworths lifts supermarket sales in NZ by 2.9%
20206