The biggest increase came in clothing and general merchandise, which made up 57% of Woolworths' group profit before tax and exceptional items last year.
Same-store clothing and general merchandise sales - at stores open for 12 months or longer - rose 6.7% even as prices rose 8.9% over the period.
Total sales in this category jumped 11.2%.
Same-store food sales grew 5.6% - and 9.9% in total - as prices rose 5.2%, the company's trading update showed.
The figures, which show a 5.7% same-store sales boost for the group, suggest a return to spending by Woolworths' well-heeled customers, who have suffered less from the one-million-plus jobs lost since the start of last year and who are now benefiting from nominal salary increases.
"With an upmarket, top-end food retailer, when times get tough, you suffer more than everybody else. When times turn around, you benefit more than everybody else," said Nedbank Securities analyst Syd Vianello.
Woolworths shares, which were little changed at R24.85 yesterday, have risen 74%, more than all of its food-retailing rivals, over the past 12 months. Lower-end Shoprite, which earlier this week reported a 13.6% sales increase in the year to June, has risen 50% over the same time. Spar is up 40% and Pick n Pay is up 25%.
"They had more pain on the downside, but equally have more benefit on the upside. They suffered worse and their market share went down. Now that things have turned, they are doing seemingly better than everybody else, because their market share is rising," Vianello said.
In an update statement in May, Woolworths said headline earnings per share for the year would be between 45% and 55% higher than last year, boosted by an unrealised post-tax loss of R57m in last year's income statement that has now fully unwound, and R75m tax paid on a special dividend in December 2008.
Excluding these items, earnings per share would be in line with last year, despite a R380m profit from the sale of a portion of Woolworths Financial Services.
Woolworths Financial Services' closing debtors' books at June were 1.3% down from June last year, when they were up 6.4%. The impairment charge as a percentage of average gross receivables fell to 5.1% from 7.4%.
Source: Business Day
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