Consumer electronics sales in Woolworths-owned stores, including Dick Smith, declined by 0.5 per cent during the 09/10 financial year across Australia and New Zealand.
In reporting its end of year financial results to the ASX, Woolworths (ASX:WOW) said sales for the full year hit $1.5 billion with comparable store sales decreasing by 0.9 per cent.
“This result reflects the cycling of the prior year Government stimulus payment and a tightening of consumer spending in Australia,” the ASX report reads. “This tightening has particularly impacted consumer electronics with increasing price competition resulting in lower margins in Australia. The new format stores in Australia, which have now reached 42 per cent of the total store network, are outperforming older store formats.”
While 25 Tandy and 19 Dick Smith stores were closed during the financial year, 24 new Dick Smith stores were opened and 40 Tandy stores were rebranded as Dick Smith. There are now 394 Dick Smith and 22 Tandy stores.
More broadly Woolworths, the parent company of Dick Smith, said it had increased its online sales by 59 per cent for the year.
In February, Woolworths said it would continue to overhaul its consumer electronics business Dick Smith as it sought to reposition the brand in the Australian and New Zealand markets. At the financial half year, the changes had resulted in modest increases in sales; the Australian arm of the consumer electronics business reported a 4.3 per cent year-on-year increase to $710 million for the half to 31 December 2009.