Soaring living costs and high interest rates are eating into the pockets of even SA's wealthier consumers.

Listen to this article 5 min Listen to this article 5 min Even Woolworths customers are smarting from the weak economy.

The retailer said today that soaring living costs and elevated interest rates have eroded consumer confidence, which has led to a sharp decline in discretionary spending. As a result, the upmarket retailer expects its full-year earnings to be down by almost 20% for the year.

Despite a 6.2% growth in group turnover and concession sales, the retailer's overall performance was dented by the sale of David Jones and an extra trading week in the current financial year.

The results are based on a 53-week year, which happens roughly every five or six years.

Since a normal year has 52 weeks and one day, these extra days accumulate over time until there's an extra week in a particular year. As such, Woolworths' results reflect a 53-week year, ending 30 June 2024, not 23 June. In a comparable 52-week period (ended 23 June 2024), sales grew by 4.3%, and in H2 by 3.2%. Online sales grew by 13.3% and contributed 9.2% to group sales for the year.

At the end of March this year,...