Edcon beats economic downturn

It also reported higher gross profit margins as a result of lower markdowns. However, these were partially offset by continued growth in store expenses and overheads. Despite this, the group expected growth in adjusted operating profit for the quarter to be in line with sales growth.

Like-for-like sales grew 6.7% in the same three months as all chains made “significant contributions to this growth”.

Edcon said its debtors' book was in the same shape as last September when looking at net bad debts as a percentage of debtors' balances.

CEO Steve Ross said the company was “pleased that our Edcon stores performed as they did over the Christmas period, despite difficult trading conditions. We expect the year ahead to be more challenging and we are actively preparing for that possibility.”

Edcon owns Edgars, Jet and Discom. The group, as of June last year, was trading out of 1154 stores, up from 959 in 2007.

In September it said it would continue to grow sales despite a tough trading environment characterised by rising food prices and high inflation.

Source: Business Day

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