Woolworths Offers ‘Glimmers of Hope’ for Retailers
- South Africa retailer gains most in seven weeks after earnings
- Analysts see positive signs in clothing, food businesses
A Woolworths V&A store in Cape Town.
Photographer: Halden Krog/Bloomberg
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Full-year earnings from Woolworths Holdings Ltd. showed signs of improving performance at the retailer, despite the uninviting conditions for companies targeting South African consumers, analysts said.
Woolworths’s profit came in just below the mid-range of guidance, said Henre Herselman, a derivatives trader at Johannesburg-based Anchor Private Clients. “With the current sentiment toward the economic climate of South Africa, investors probably expected the worst, which ended up not being the case.”