Lewis Group's June revenue up 4.7% y/y
The Lewis Group says trading for the quarter ended June had remained challenging‚ with continued uncertainty in the labour market and rising unemployment, fuelling a cautious outlook among consumers in the group's target market.
Addressing the group's annual general meeting‚ chief executive Johan Enslin told shareholders that sales growth for the period was in line with 2012‚ while revenue was 4.7% higher because of increased financial services income from higher levels of credit sales and longer-dated contracts.
"The credit collection environment has become increasingly tough and the productivity of credit staff at stores remains a key focus‚" he said.
"Debtor costs for the period totalled R156.6m‚ which amounts to 2.7% of net debtors. This percentage is in line with the corresponding period last year‚" he said.
Management expects current trading conditions to continue for the remainder of the financial year.