Johannesburg – SA retailer Edcon has posted its 2015 third quarter trading results which showed a slight increase in core profit, reflecting subdued consumer sentiment.
Edcon on Friday posted total retail sales which increased 0.5% to R8.8bn, while gross profit increased 5.2% to R3.4bn, mainly due to a 170 bps improvement in gross margin to 38% from 36.3% in the prior comparative period.
This resulted in a continued positive trajectory for pro forma adjusted Ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation) to R1.3bn, which is a 4.2% increase compared to the same quarter last year, up from the 1% increase in the second quarter 2015.