Foschini’s profits increase
FMCG SUPPLIER NEWS
IOL Business/ Reuters - Jun 3rd, 09:39
Johannesburg - The Foschini Group, South Africa's No.3 listed clothing retailer, missed estimates with an 11 percent rise in full-year profit as debt-laden consumers cut back on spending.
Foschini, which also sells jewellery and furniture, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 851.3 cents in the year to end-March compared with 766.1 cents a year earlier.
The result fell short of the 859 cents estimated by Thomson Reuters StarMine, which gives more weight to forecasts from historically accurate analysts.
Headline earnings per share, the primary measure of profit in South Africa, exclude certain one-off items.
Sales rose 11 percent to 12.8 billion rand ($1.31 billion).
Shares in the Cape Town-based company, which are down about 8 percent this year, were little changed, lagging behind a 1.3 percent gain on the JSE All-share index.
After more than two years as investors' darlings, South African retailers are falling out favour as doubts creep in about the health of debt-fuelled consumer spending and views that share prices have been pushed to unjustifiably high levels.
South African industry-wide retail sales slowed 2.8 percent year-on-year in March from 3.9 percent in February, official data showed.
Foschini, which sells the bulk of its products on credit, said net bad debt as a percentage of its debtors' book increased to 10.5 percent from 9.4 percent in the previous year.
The company said it plans to open 150 new stores this year.
© Independent On-line 2013. All rights reserved.
Related News
Target data breach may affect 40 million customers
20/12/2013 - 07:40
Minneapolis – Target confirmed that it suffered a major data breach that may have affected as many as 40 million credit and debit card transactions at Target stores between Nov. 27 and Dec. 15. The retailer said the information included customer name, credit or debit card number, and the card’s expiration date and CVV (the three-digit security code).
Cotton On opens in Stellenbosch, Western Cape
19/12/2013 - 12:48
Located in Mill Square, Stellenbosch, the new Cotton On store opened on 31 October 2013, offering on-trend yet affordable fashion for both women and men.
Edcon to sell top UK clothing brand
19/12/2013 - 10:08
Johannesburg - The country's fashion industry has been set a twitter by the news that one of the biggest and most recognised clothing brands on the British high street will soon be found in South Africa.
Accessory brand, Mat & May, opens kiosk in Cavendish Square, Cape Town
17/12/2013 - 13:32
Accessory brand, Mat & May launched its new fashion kiosk in Cavendish Square Mall in Cape Town earlier this month.
Ackermans stores closed on 15 December 2013
13/12/2013 - 14:42
Ackermans stores in South Africa will be closed for trade on Sunday, 15 December 2013.
