Super Retail Group has shown while times are difficult achieving sales growth is still possible after the company provided an update on its first quarter trading.
The company reported like for like sales growth across the group’s three divisions in the 16 weeks to 20 October 2012 were:
- Auto retailing 5.8 per cent
- Leisure retailing 4 per cent
- Sports retailing 8.9 per cent
Peter Birtles, Super Retail Group managing director and chief executive director said they are confident that a like for like sales growth is likely even if retail conditions remain subdued.
“The rate of like for like sales growth in sports retailing will slow from the beginning of November as we cycle more challenging comparative sales driven by initiatives introduced following acquisition,” he said.
The company expects to open another 10 new stores in each of its auto and sports divisions and up to 20 stores in its leisure division.
“We remain on track to see a small improvement in EBIT margins in our auto and leisure divisions and to deliver a full year EBIT margin of around 11 per cent on our sports division in line with our acquisition assumptions,” Birtles said.