In the three weeks to the 15th of March, the Reject Shop’s sales rose by a massive 15.1% year-on-year.
This sharp increase was driven by consumers desperate to get their hands on groceries, cleaning supplies, toiletries and pet care – goods that have also been selling out at the country’s major supermarket chains.
However, the company acknowledges this may not be a long-term trend. Their statement to investors that was released today said: “TRS recognises the uncertain duration of the elevated sales activity pertaining to coronavirus and cautions against assuming that these elevated sales will continue through to the end of FY20.”
The store’s longer-term results highlight what an outlier the last three weeks have been – over the first eight weeks of FY20 sales were only up 2.3% year-on-year. Sales over the first eleven weeks of the second half of FY20 have averaged comparable growth of 5.7%.
It is yet to be seen how these positive results will be reflected on the ASX. Since the high of $4.52 on the 27th of January, the company’s share price has gradually fallen, standing at $2.48 today.
