Woolworths Posts Solid H1 But Retail Clouds Gather

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Leading Australian retailer Woolworths has announced sales growth of 6% to AUD27.2bn (US$23.6bn) for the first half of fiscal 2010 (27 weeks ending January 3 2010). The company attributed the solid growth figure to the tailwinds of the government's fiscal stimulus measures and to its competitive price focus which helped prop up consumer demand. However, with Woolworths' Christmas quarter disappointing relative to many analyst expectations and with December retail sales actually posting an unexpected contraction of 0.7%, the local retail market has clearly not yet put recent economic woes behind