Shares in Super Cheap Retail Group (SUL) dipped nearly 3% yesterday despite an upbeat outlook at the company’s AGM.
The shares ended at $13.48, down 2.8%, or 39c. The shares were falling before the late fall here after a fall in the Tokyo market and a rise in short term interest rates in China.
Super Cheap said it plans 25 new stores in the year ahead, which was confirmation of what the company revealed in the profit statement in August.
The company said sales are improving and had picked up since the election at its Ray’s Outdoors, Boating Camping Fishing (BCF), Rebel and Amart Sports chains and the flagship Super Cheap auto chain.
Chief executive Peter Birtles said comparable sales growth, which takes out the impact of store openings or closures, had improved in the first 16 weeks of the financial year.
The company said that in the 16 weeks to 19 October 2013, like for like sales growth across the Group’s three divisions had improved with sales in Auto Retailing up 3%, in Leisure Retailing sales were up 5%, and 6% in Sports Retailing.
SUL YTD – Super Retail starts the new year with solid sales growth
Mr Peter Birtles, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Super Retail Group said in an update to the AGM yesterday that, “Trading so far this year has been solid, building on the consistent delivery of strong like for like sales growth in recent years. After a pleasing start to the year, trading slowed around the federal election but has returned to plan during October.”
“Looking ahead, we expect to be able to open around five new stores in our Auto Retailing division and around 10 new stores in each of our Leisure and Sports Retailing divisions during the year.
"We expect to permanently close one Ray’s Outdoors store and one Rebel Sports store and temporarily close two Supercheap Auto stores while the remaining standalone Goldcross Cycles stores will be closed. We will continue our program of store refurbishment and store of the future trials across the Group.
“We are on track to maintain EBIT margin in our Auto Retailing division and to deliver a small improvement in EBIT margins in our Leisure and Sports Retailing divisions.
"Our Group costs will increase in the 2014 Financial Year as we ramp up the development of our multi-channel capabilities and incur costs in establishing new distribution centres in Sydney and Brisbane,” Mr Birtles said.
SuperCheap, along with Kathmandu and JB Hi Fi are specialist retailers, playing a niche or niches that the bigger, slower moving operators such as Woolies, Coles, Myer, David Jones and Harvey Norman have trouble following or matching their faster rates of growth and earnings.
