It’s not all bad news in retail, despite the weak performances by Dick Smith (DSH) and Woolworths (WOW), with the leading electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi (JBH) lifting topline first quarter sales by 5.3%.
Comparable or same store sales, which removes the effects of store openings and closures, were up a solid 3.7% in the three months.
Chief executive Richard Murray told shareholders at JB’s annual meeting that the company’s on track to meet its annual sales forecast of $3.85 billion, up 5.5% on 2014-15.
The shares ended flat at $18.50 after being as high as $18.70.
That was after the market fell 1.3%, driven lower by the weak figures from Woolworths and its big earnings downgrade.
This comes a day after Dick Smith posted a sharp fall in same store sales, and two days after Harvey Norman revealed a 7% jump in same store sales in its Australian outlets.
Sales for the 2014-15 were $3.65 billion, up 4.8%, while earnings were up 6.4% to $136.5 million.
