Australia's Harvey Norman drops as sales moderate on tight consumer spending

Harvey Norman Holdings

24/11/2022 04:51

** Shares of Harvey Norman Holdings Ltd  HVN.AX  fall as
much as 2.4% to A$4.13, set for their worst day since Nov. 3
    ** The retailer says aggregated sales for July to October
were negatively affected by depreciation in foreign currencies
of markets in UK, Europe, among others  urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nASX29V6Fn
    ** Morningstar says co's trading update suggests sales
growth moderated across all jurisdictions in September and
October owing to cost-of-living pressures
    ** Broker expects consumers in HVN's two largest markets of
Australia and NZ to cut back their spending on consumer
electronics and furniture in fiscal 2023
    ** "We also expect competition to intensify, discounting to
increase, and profit margins to normalise" - Morningstar
    ** Citi says "there is sufficient downside buffer built into
expectations" and retains "buy" rating on stock with a A$4.70 PT
    ** Stock has fallen 14.4% this year, as of last close
 (Reporting by Ayushman Ojha in Bengaluru)
 ((Ayushman.Ojha@thomsonreuters.com))