Woolworths shares profit from sale of David Jones’s head office with shareholders
Retailer says the growth in clothing and general merchandise sales is ‘a good result in a tough and promotional market’
Woolworths shared its R1.76bn profit from the sale of Australian department store David Jones’s Sydney head office with shareholders by maintaining its interim dividend at R1.33 despite a decline in headline earnings. Diluted headline earnings per share (HEPS), which excludes profit from the property sale, fell 4.1% to 241.3c for the 26 weeks to December 25, the retail group reported on Thursday morning. Overall revenue grew 7.1% to R35bn and the R1.76bn windfall from the property sale helped net profit jump 37% to R3.3bn. Woolworths splits itself into four segments. Of these, food is the largest contributor to retail sales, accounting for 39% of the total R34bn. But food’s contribution to the group’s R14bn gross profit is 24%, placing it behind David Jones and its clothing and general merchandise division. David Jones contributed 23% of the group’s sales and 27% of its gross profit. Woolworths’s clothing and general merchandise division contributed 21% of total sales and 25% of gro...
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