Australian supermarket operator Woolworths has posted a 7% rise in fourth-quarter sales and raised its earnings forecast range for the fiscal year.
Total sales for the 12 weeks to 29 June rose to A$6.03bn (US$3.90bn). Sales from continuing operations rose 10%, while same-store sales were estimated to have risen around 5%.
Sales for the company’s fiscal year were $26.3bn, compared to $24.5bn in the previous year.
Woolworths chief executive Roger Corbett said the retailer would continue to deliver sales growth in the high single digits.
“That will make for very, very steady growth in earnings per share,” he told Reuters. “I hope we continue to grow EPS in the low double-digits.”
The company raised the lower end of its fiscal 2003 earnings-per-share forecast by one cent, predicting earnings-per-share growth of at least 13.5% for the year.