Australian grocer Coles slips as intense competition dents early second-quarter sales
Lila Johnson is a seasoned business reporter with a background in finance, having graduated from the University of North Dakota. She has previously worked with local business journals and focuses on small business success stories and entrepreneurial initiatives.
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(Corrects paragraph 11 to say three-month period ended September 27, not September 30; drop repeated word from paragraph 1) Oct 30 (Reuters) Australia s Coles said on Friday that heightened promotional activity by competitors hurt early second-quarter sales, as cost-conscious shoppers sought bargains, sending its shares to a more than five-month low. The stock fell as much as 12.8% to A$20.47 by 2353 GMT, marking their worst intraday session and was among the worst performer in the broader S P/ASX 200 index, which rose 0.7%. The country s second-largest grocer said shoppers continued to compare prices across retailers and channels, while making greater use of promotions and loyalty programmes to manage household budgets. Supermarket sales growth slowed in the first four weeks of the second quarter from 3.6% in the first quarter, missing a Visible Alpha consensus forecast of 5% for second quarter. Coles said it was taking deliberate actions to strengthen momentum , including r