Woolworths shares fall almost 10% after poor HEPS forecast
Woolworths share price fell as much as 9% to R57.64 on Monday morning after said its interim headline earnings per share (HEPS) were expected to fall as much as 17.5%.
Woolworths said it expected to report on 22 February that HEPS for the 26 weeks to 24 December declined between 12.5% and 17.5%.
The group's overall sales for the 26 weeks to 24 December grew just 2.5%, failing to keep pace with inflation.
Woolworths' best performer was its South African food section which grew sales 9.4%, while its fashion, beauty and home section suffered a 0.2% decline in sales.
The group expanded the retail space of its food stores by 6.8% from the matching period in 2016. Excluding the added retail space, food sales grew 5.3%.
Its fashion, beauty and home section increased its space by 3.6%. Excluding the new space, sales fell 3.4%.
Its Australian department store chain, David Jones, reported a 3.8% decline in total sales. It reduced David Jones's retail space 2.2% during the first half of its financial year.
Its other Australian chain, Country Road, increased sales 5.2%.
Source: BDpro