Almost 20 per cent plus for Bunnings this year

An increase in sales of 19.2 per cent has been reported by the Australian chain of DIY stores Bunnings for the period of January to May 2020 compared to the same period last year. In the first half of financial year 2019/2020 (1 July to 31 December 2019) the sales growth amounted to 5.8 per cent. In the overall financial year until now, i.e. from July 2019 to the end of May 2020, an increase of 11.3 per cent has accumulated.
As in the case of the Officworks sales channel, Bunnings' parent company Wesfarmers also makes the effects of Covid-19 responsible for this growth as customers continue to spend more time working, learning and relaxing at home. The strong sales performance is supported by continued growth in consumer and commercial markets across all major Australian trading regions and in all product categories, according to a retail trading update by the group. It states that Bunnings has invested around AUD 20 mio (EUR 12 mio) in additional cleaning, security and protective equipment to respond to Covid-19 over the last three months. In addition, Bunnings will incur costs of approximately AUD 70 mio (EUR 43 mio) in the 2020 financial year associated with trading restrictions in New Zealand, the permanent closure of seven small-format stores during the half year, and the accelerated roll-out of its online offering, including the write-off of legacy e-commerce platform assets.