Australia’s Wesfarmers says sales at Kmart and Target stores down in recent weeks

(Reuters) – Australia’s Wesfarmers Ltd said on Tuesday that in-store sales had fallen in recent weeks at both its discount department stores, Kmart and to a larger extent, Target, as the coronavirus outbreak kept shoppers indoors.

While sales growth across the third-quarter at both operations was largely in-line with what was seen in the first-half, momentum at Kmart had recently moderated while Target’s sales faced a significant decline, the conglomerate said.

“Given the high degree of fixed occupancy costs, a sustained decline in sales momentum will have a material impact on the profitability of Kmart and Target,” Wesfarmers added.

(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Chris Reese)