Wesfarmers Says Bunnings, Officeworks Sales Up In 3Q

05/29/2012| 07:33pm US/Eastern

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Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd. (>> Wesfarmers Limited) said Wednesday third quarter sales at its Bunnings home improvement stores were up 4.7% on year.

The company said in presentation material for an investor briefing that store-on-store growth for the three months to March 31 was up 2.6%.

Bunnings, which is facing new competition in Australia's 42 billion Australian dollar (US$41.31 billion) home improvement sector from a the Masters joint venture between rival Woolworths Ltd. (>> Woolworths Limited) and U.S. partner Lowe's Cos (LOW), has performed well despite deflationary impacts and challenging trading conditions, Wesfarmers said.

At its Officeworks chain, which sells office supplies, headline sales in the third quarter were up 2.5%. Wesfarmers said market conditions for Officeworks remained challenging with competitive pressure on sales and margins and concerns about consumer sentiment.

-By Gavin Lower, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2095; gavin.lower@dowjones.com

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