CE retailer Harvey Norman and Woolworths who own Dick Smith and Power House will benefit from their exposure to WA and QLD as well as rural Australia says one of Australia's leading retail analysts. He also says that NSW is hurting retailer's top line.
Craig Woolford the Senior Analyst in the retail sector at Citi Bank Investments claims that during the past two years, WA retail sales grew at 1.5x the national average and QLD rose by 1.2x the national average.
In contrast, NSW only managed 0.8x the national average. The trends are not just driven by income growth, but also population growth in both metropolitan and regional areas outside NSW. He says that in the past five years, QLD's population has grown 13%, WA's 8% and NSW only 4%.
