Clothing retailer The Foschini Group (TFG) said on Friday, 18 January 2013, group sales for the nine months to December increased by 11.4% from a year earlier‚ with same store sales growth of 5.6%.
Christmas trading was mixed across merchandise categories with group sales growth for December (2 December to 29 December) of 10.5% and same store growth of 4.7%.
Growths in the various merchandise categories for the nine months to December were as follows: clothing 12.5% (same store growth 6.1%); homeware 18.9% (same store growth 11.8%); cosmetics 11.4% (same store growth 8.0%); jewellery 7.6% (same store growth 3.6%) and cellphones 2.3% (same store growth -1.4%). Merchandise inflation for the period averaged 5.5%.
The company said sales post Christmas for the period 30 December to 17 January had been strong across all merchandise categories with group sales increasing by 19.8% and same store growth of 12.9%.