DAVID Jones says its first quarter trading was flat as consumers remain conservative while reaffirming its forecast of five to 10 per cent annual profit growth.
The retailer reported total and like-for-like (LFL) sales revenue of $466.6 million in the three months to October 30, up 3.2 per cent from the previous corresponding period.
The previous corresponding period was one week longer than the fiscal 2011 first quarter, and on adjusted terms sales revenue was up 1.2 per cent.
"If you adjust for the trading benefits of our newly redeveloped Bourke Street Mall stores, our 1Q11 LFL sales were slightly negative, which is broadly in line with our guidance of flat sales for 1H11," chief executive Paul Zahra said.
"Consumer shopping behaviour is still patchy and we have seen significant deflation in televisions," Mr Zahra said.
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Good sales performances came in women's accessories, menswear and home furnishings, particularly manchester.
Mr Zahra said the results were in line broadly with earlier sales guidance despite an unseasonally wet and cool start to summer.
"Given consumers remain conservative in their spending, it is too early for us to provide any guidance update until after we have traded through the all important second quarter, which is the key component of our company's first half profit," he said.
"We do, however, reconfirm our profit after tax guidance for FY11 of five per cent to 10 per cent growth."
The re-development of the Bourke Street Mall David Jones store in Melbourne is complete and trade there has been strong, the company said.
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