© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A girl walks within the fruit and greens part at a Coles grocery store in Sydney, Australia, February 20, 2018. REUTERS/Daniel Munoz/File Photograph
By Nausheen Thusoo
(Reuters) -Australia’s Coles Group (OTC:) on Tuesday posted a 4.8% rise in full-year revenue, helped by elevated grocery store, gross sales however missed market expectations, sending the shares down practically 4%.
The nation’s No. 2 grocer reported a internet revenue after tax of A$1.10 billion ($705.54 million) for the yr ended June 30, in contrast with A$1.05 billion a yr earlier. That marginally missed Refinitiv’s estimate of A$1.11 billion.
The Melbourne-based firm additionally stated it expects cost-of-living stress to stay for Australian households in fiscal 2024.
Analysts at Jefferies referred to as the outcomes “disappointing”, whereas these at UBS count on additional labour and operational prices to be headwinds for the corporate in future.
The corporate introduced a ultimate dividend of A$0.30 per share, the identical as final yr’s A$0.30 per share.
Coles flagged modest grocery store gross sales for early fiscal 2024 alongside early indicators of shoppers shifting from out-of-home eating.
Shares of Coles Group Ltd are down 3.8 % at A$16.63 as at 0002 GMT, making it one of many prime losers on the benchmark. The broader market was down 0.2%.
Coles’ larger revenue comes on the again of upper grocery store gross sales, which assist offset flat liquor gross sales income for the yr.
The grocery store division, Coles’ greatest revenue-generating section, incurred A$36,746 million income in the course of the yr, 6.1% larger than a yr in the past.
Complete grocery store inflation was 6.7% for the yr, considerably larger than 1.7% a yr in the past, the corporate stated in a press release.
Grocery store chains are benefiting from passing on excessive shelf costs to the consumers, as decades-high inflation and sky-high borrowing prices push extra shoppers to eat at dwelling and minimize discretionary spending.
Nonetheless, the corporate’s liquor gross sales income for the yr was flat in contrast with the prior yr, because it grappled with COVID-19- associated on-premise closures and restrictions for the primary half of the yr, earlier than returning to progress of two.7% within the second half.
($1 = 1.5591 Australian {dollars})
