Mr Price third quarter sales up 8.4%

The group achieved sales growth of 6.2% and 6.4% in October and November respectively and the growth achieved in December was 10.8%.

Comparable sales, which include sales of expanded and relocated stores in like-for-like locations, grew by 5.7% for the quarter and by 8.5% in December.

Sales to franchised stores are excluded from these comparisons.

Group sales for the quarter were in line with expectations which took into account the recession and the very high base in the same quarter in the previous year when comparable sales were over 15%. Inflation for the period was 5.1% and cash sales constituted 84.6% of total sales. Gross margins were also in line with expectations, it said.

The Apparel Division (Mr Price, Mr Price Sport and Miladys), which represented 73.4% of sales, achieved sales growth for the quarter of 10.4% (December 12.7%) with comparable sales growth of 6.6% (December 9.7%). Weighted average space increased by 7.0% and inflation of 3.6% was recorded for the quarter.

The Home Division (Mr Price Home and Sheet Street), which represented 26.6% of sales, continued to be affected by the reduced consumer spend on durable and semi-durable products which includes homewares. Sales growth of 3.2% (December 5.3%) and comparable sales growth of 3.4% (December 5.2%) was recorded.

Weighted average space increased by 2.0% and inflation of 8.4% was recorded for the quarter.

The debtors' book remained well controlled from both a credit granting and a collections perspective, resulting in bad debt levels improving slightly on that reported for the half year ended 30 September 2009.

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