SHARES in The Foschini Group (TFG) shot up as much as 5.3% after it published a trading update for the first five months of the 2017, financial year, which beat analysts expectations. Even though the South African retailer, whose local brands include Markham and Fabiani, reported a marked slowdown in same-store sales growth over the period, investors cheered that the drop in sales was not as "catastrophic" as that recorded by rival Mr Price. The stock pared gains to close 3.56% higher at R140.56. Muted growth in SA, high inflation and interest rates, and the volatile rand were the main reasons TFG’s same-store sales growth slowed to 3.5% in the first five months, from 5.7% in the previous comparable period. Sasfin Securities senior retail analyst Alec Abraham said the drop in sales was, however, not surprising, as pressure was being felt across the entire retail space. "But the numbers are not as catastrophic as Mr Price, who had negative comparable sales," he said, listing this as ...
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