woolies vs coles comparable sales

Analysts are glued to making comparisons on Coles and Woolies food and liquour business on a comparable basis qtr by qtr.

After reviewing Coles 4th qtr sales the question that arises is are they now starting to loss momemtum in out growing Woolies on a camparable store basis?

Comparable store growth for the last 3 quarters as follows (food and liquor);

Coles WW
Q2 3.7% 1.1%
Q3 2.7% flat
Q4 3.0% 1.3%

The above numbers show that in Q2 and Q3 Coles outgrew Wooloworths by 2.6% and 2.7% on a comparative store basis however in the 4th qtr this narrowed to 1.7%.

Its too early to definitively say this is a trend and not a single quarter aberration however with Woolowrths now directing an increased portion of the Capex programme into invigorating existing stores (as Coles has been doing) I see the result on a comparative basis as reason for optimism.