Cheers as sales rise at Mr Price

The group said comparable sales, which includes sales of expanded and relocated stores in like-for-like locations, grew 15.3% for the three months, with December growth at 17.5%.

Mr Price's advantage is that it is predominantly a cash retailer, with 84% of sales during the quarter being for cash.

Retailers Massmart, Shoprite and Pick n Pay have issued trading updates, telling the market and shareholders they performed better than expected during the past few weeks, despite predictions that consumer spending would plummet because of high food prices and stretched family budgets.

However, analysts said as the interest rate cycle continued improving, the focus would tend to shift to credit-oriented retailers.

Inflation for the period was 6.3% and cash sales constituted 84.3% of total sales. During the quarter Mr Price opened 21 stores, bringing the total number to 948. The sales of the franchise stores in Africa and the Middle East were excluded from comparisons.

The apparel division (Mr Price, Mr Price Sport and Miladys), which represented 72% of sales, achieved sales growth for the quarter of 25,7% with comparable sales growth of 21,8%.

However, the home division (Mr Price Home and Sheet Street), which represented 28% of sales, continued to be affected by the reduced consumer spend on durable and semidurable products — which includes homewares — with sales growth of only 8.2%. Comparable sales growth was 1,7%.

The group said its debtors' book remained well controlled from both a credit granting and a collections perspective.

Source: Business Day

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