Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV) shares are falling on Tuesday morning.
At the time of writing, the ASX 200 stock is down 4% to $3.66.
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Why is this ASX 200 stock tumbling?
Investors have been selling the alcohol retail giant's shares following the release of a trading update this morning.
According to the release, total sales increased 1% over the prior corresponding period to $6,682 million during the first half.
This reflects a 0.7% lift in Dan Murphy's and BWS sales to $5,404 million, a 16.2% decline in specialty sales to $109 million, and a 4.4% lift in Hotels revenue to $1,169 million.
Management notes that since September, Dan Murphy's and BWS have together delivered four consecutive months of sales growth. It believes this reflects the company's commitment to price leadership as a fundamental part of the customer experience, particularly in Dan Murphy's.
Second quarter combined sales for Dan Murphy's and BWS grew by 2.2% over the prior corresponding period.
Profit decline
Things weren't quite as positive for the ASX 200 stock's earnings, with margin pressures leading to group EBIT (before significant items) falling to between $555 million and $566 million for the half. This is down 4.9% to 6.7% from $595 million a year earlier.
Commenting on the performance of its retail operations, the ASX 200 stock's CEO, Jayne Hrdlicka, said:
The pricing and promotional decisions we have made in our Retail business have generated positive sales results, delivering on our aim to better align the customer propositions for each of our brands to re-ignite top line growth. In a competitive market landscape, we have focused on reinforcing customer confidence in the value we offer across all channels, particularly in Dan Murphy's unbeatable price and customer experience.
A key step to realising the potential of our Retail brands is improving sales momentum, and as the first half progressed we made a number of decisions to improve customer engagement and generate higher sales velocity, including investment in lower shelf prices. We are very pleased with the speed of customer reaction to our shelf price and targeted promotional activity, highlighting the strength in both retail brands.
Speaking about the Hotels business, Hrdlicka adds:
The holiday spirit across our Hotels business was exceptional, enabling strong results. There is a lot to play for in our Hotels portfolio and we are excited by the opportunity to create additional value as we begin to roll out the refreshed strategy. I look forward to updating the market with further detail on our plans later this year.
