Endeavour Group, owner of Dan Murphy’s, BWS and 354 hotels, generated overall sales growth of 2.1 per cent in the past three months.
Mr Donohue made the comments as Endeavour disclosed sales growth across its business of 2.1 per cent in the 14 weeks to October 1. The company operates 354 hotels and the Dan Murphy’s and BWS liquor chains.The company told investors on Monday that retailing revenues had increased 1.9 per cent in that period to $2.54 billion while hotel revenues had grown 2.8 per cent to $553 million. Despite the growth, both divisions reported sales lower than many brokers had expected in the quarter.
Endeavour shares were down 2 per cent by the early afternoon, trading at $4.92. They have fallen some 27 per cent over the past six months. Mr Donohue said there had been a slowdown in sales in August and in the lead-up to Father’s Day in the liquor stores, but trading had started picking up again. “Momentum trended up again through the last two weeks in September, and this has continued into the second quarter,” he added.