Foschini profit up 6%, outpaces consensus
Foschini, which also sells jewellery and furniture, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 903 cents in the year to end-March, a touch above the 887 cents estimate in a Reuters poll of 13 analysts.
Sales rose 9.8 percent to 14.2 billion rand ($1.4 billion), with cash sales growing by 16 percent while purchases on credit inched up 5.7 percent.
The company, which competes with Mr Price and Truworths, raised the money set aside to cover customer defaults by 20 percent to 720 million rand.
Mr Price, a largely cash-based retailer whose market value has recently shot past both Foschini and Truworths, posted double-digit rises in both sales and profit earlier this week, as consumers flocked to its no-frills stores.
($1 = 10.4987 South African Rand)