Lewis says consumers are struggling amid high unemployment, rising interest rates and soaring inflation.Load shedding has also disrupted retail trading patterns.SA's largest furniture chain Lewis reported on Friday that merchandise sales for the nine months to December rose by a muted 2%, with consumers turning to credit as tough economic conditions begin to bite.
In morning trade the group's shares had fallen just over 2% to R46.10, having lost almost 7% so far in 2023.Lewis, Beares and Best Home & Electric had been supported by an"increasing consumer appetite for credit", the group said, managing to grow sales by 3.7%, while sales at UFO declined by 9.7%. The group said that overall collection rates strengthened to 82.7% for the third quarter, compared with 79.7% for the third quarter of 2021. It was 82% for the nine months, compared with 79.1% for the nine months to December 2021. Debtor costs were 2.2% higher for the quarter and only 0.2% higher for the nine-month period.A deep dive into the big business story of the week, as well as expert analysis of markets and trends.
Lewis had an advantage in that it sold on credit, said Treurnicht, and while"those credit numbers are massive", debtor costs were still relatively low, he said.
_Business It’s just evil. Companies like this shouldn’t exist.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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