Endeavour Group has reported a slight dip in retail sales for the first quarter of the financial year, with its core retailing chains, Dan Murphy’s and BWS, experiencing a 1 per cent decrease. This decline was partially offset by robust growth in the company’s hotels business. Endeavour Group operates 1,728 liquor stores and is also a significant player in the hotels and hospitality sector. Kate Beattie is currently the chief executive, before Jayne Hrdlicka takes over in January.
Total retail sales for the group’s liquor stores reached $2.5 billion for the quarter, representing a 1.4 per cent decrease. However, when excluding the discontinued Shorty’s corporate liquor delivery business and Jimmy Brings, the sales decline narrowed to 1 per cent for the 14 weeks leading up to October 5. Despite the retail challenges, Endeavour Group’s hotels and pubs demonstrated solid performance, with all key business drivers contributing to growth.
Sales in the hotels segment saw a 4.4 per cent increase, reaching $567 million for the quarter. MST Marquee had anticipated a 0.4 per cent decrease in retail sales for Endeavour but projected a 4.2 per cent increase in the hotels business. The company noted that after a challenging start to the quarter, retail sales showed improvement and returned to positive growth in September.
