Woolworths Holdings, one of the major upmarket retailer said it expects first-half profit to be between 2.5 percent to 7.5 percent lower, the company said in a trading update on Thursday.
Woolworths said it sees headline earnings per share(HEPS) between 234.5 to 247.2 cents for the 26-week period ended 25 December 2016.
Woolworths said HEPS is the main profit measure used in South Africa thatstrips out certain one-off times.
Therefore, adjusted diluted headline earnings per share (adHEPS) for the period are expected to be between 0 and 5 percent lower at 238.3 to 250.8 cents.
The retailer, which also sells food, reported a 6.7percent rise in group sales for the first-half of the 2017 financial year. * Sales at department store chain David Jones and CountryRoad Group were negatively impacted by the timing of the public holiday of Boxing Day and last year’s termination of the DickSmith electronics concession, the company said.
