© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Customers separated by protective plexiglass shields are seen in the self-service checkout area of a Coles supermarket following the easing of restrictions implemented to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Sydney, Austral
By Sameer Manekar
(Reuters) -Australia’s Coles Group (OTC:) posted a 3.6% jump in first-quarter sales on Thursday, boosted by higher contribution from its supermarkets section owing to strong food volume growth, as consumers increasingly opted for at-home consumption.
Persistently high cost-of-living pressures after 12 interest rate hikes since May last year have pushed consumers to opt for in-house consumption, with deflation in prices of fruits and vegetables, meat, seafood and bakery items boosting volumes.
Inflation at Coles’s supermarkets division declined to 3.1% for the quarter, down from 5.8% in the prior quarter and sharply below 7.1% from last year, due to deflation in the fresh category, the grocer said.
Supermarkets, Coles’s biggest revenue-generating unit, logged sales revenue of A$9.19 billion for the quarter, a 4.7% growth from a year ago, which missed a Jefferies’ expectation of 5.8% growth.
That helped the country’s second-largest grocer post group sales revenue of A$10.25 billion ($6.46 billion) for the 13 weeks to Sept. 24, compared with A$9.89 billion reported a year ago.
Meanwhile, the grocer added that it ramped up security measures to reduce total loss from stock loss, waste and markdown across supermarkets during the first quarter, and this will continue into the second quarter.
“Commentary in the release implies that while waste and markdown has improved, theft has not yet improved and may have continued to worsen,” analysts at Jefferies said.
“While today is a sales update and not an earnings update, we expect discussion on stock loss to determine the direction of the share price today.”
Shares of the grocer were down 0.3% at A$14.90 in early trade.
Providing a preview into the second quarter, Coles said in the early part its supermarkets and liquor divisions logged sales revenue growth broadly in line with the first quarter.
On Wednesday, the country’s largest grocer Woolworths logged an increase in food sales in the first quarter as value-conscious shoppers seized on cheaper meat, fruit and vegetables, but warned of continuing living cost pressures.
($1=1.5855 Australian dollars)
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