Due to their visible presence in our economy, ASX retail shares are amongst the most well-known ASX shares on the market. As such, many ASX investors like to keep an eye on the shares of their favourite retailers, and perhaps even invest in them.
So let's check out how some of the largest ASX retail shares performed over the three months ending 31 March 2022.
It wasn't a particularly successful quarter for many ASX retail shares. Many recorded large losses for the period, even though the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) managed to eke out a small gain.
One of the worst performers in this sector was ARB Corporation Limited (ASX: ARB). ARB is the company behind many of the most popular four-wheel drive accessories on the market. It sells equipment such as winches, luggage racks, snorkels and towbars for off-road vehicles.
But ARB shares were shunned over the quarter, going from $52.51 at the start of the year to finishing up at $41.54 by the end of March. That's a plunge of 20.9%.
Super Retail Group Ltd (ASX: SUL) was another uninspiring performer in the quarter that was. Super Retail may not be a household name. But the stores it runs probably are for most Australians. These include Rebel, BCF and Super Cheap Auto.
Super Retail shares started the quarter at $12.46 but ended up at the back end of March at $10.32 – a drop of 17.17%.
ASX retail shares give investors a mixed bag
Two other ASX retail shares that delivered some disappointing share price numbers over the three months to 31 March were Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) and Premier Investments Limited (ASX: PMV). Wesfarmers is not technically a retail share. But the conglomerate does own some of the largest and most well-known retailers in the country. These include Kmart, OfficeWorks and of course Bunnings. But Wesfarmers shares ended up giving back around 15% of their value over 2022's first quarter.
The Premier Investments share price did a little better, but not by much. Premier owns Smiggle, Peter Alexander and Jay Jays, amongst some others. But its shares spent the quarter falling from $30.31 to $27.50, a slide of 9.3%.
Enough negativity, let's look at some positive ASX retail share performers now.
One famous ASX retailer that fared rather well over the first three months of 2022 was Harvey Norman Holdings Limited (ASX: HVN). This electronics and furniture retailer started 2022 at $4.94 a share but finished up in March at $5.35. That was a solid gain of 8.3%.
But perhaps the best performing ASX retailer for the March quarter was none other than JB Hi-Fi Limited (ASX: JBH). JB Hi-Fi, which, despite its name, sells more computers, phones and household appliances these days than hi-fi equipment, had a corker. JB shares rose from $48.22 in January to $54.22 by the end of March. That's worth a gain of 12.21%.
So all in all a bit of a mixed bag for ASX retail shares over the March quarter. It will be interesting to see what the current quarter ending 30 June brings.
