Steinhoff Nine-Month Sales Rise 48%, Boosted by Europe, Africa

South African retailer Steinhoff International Holdings N.V. (SNH.JO) Thursday reported a 48% rise in sales for the first nine months ended June 30 led by Europe and Africa, its two biggest regions.

The furniture and household goods retailer generated sales of 14.9 billion euros ($17.6 billion) in the nine months, of which EUR7.7 billion were from Europe and EUR4 billion from Africa. Budget retailer Poundland, which the company bought last September, contributed EUR1.3 billion to European sales.

Steinhoff added that the European household goods segment remains on track to deliver good operating profit growth for the twelve months ending Sept. 30, while the U.K. furniture retail market is expected to remain challenging.

Last week Steinhoff announced that it planned to float its low-cost unit Steinhoff Africa Retail Ltd. on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange by the end of September.

The unit, which was established in July following an internal restructuring by Steinhoff of its African retail assets, has 4,800 stores and is focused on value-conscious consumers in sub-Saharan Africa. It sells a range of items from footwear and clothing to furniture and electrical items.

Oliver Griffin contributed to this article.

Write to Ian Walker at ian.walker@wsj.com; @IanWalk40289749

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 31, 2017 09:33 ET (13:33 GMT)