Briscoe Group saw first-quarter unaudited sales increase 1.03 per cent year over year to $183 million.

The company’s homeware sales fell 1.09 per cent to $108.7 million while sporting goods sales climbed 4.28 per cent to $74.3 million.

“Like all retailers we continue to see margins being challenged. We are very aware of the pressure on consumer spending and our team has responded fabulously to connect with customers by continuing to produce compelling value across our homewares and sporting goods categories,” said Rod Duke, Briscoe Group MD.

“We expect New Zealand retail to remain highly challenging throughout the remainder of 2024, but we have a fantastic team who give me great confidence that we can deliver strong half and full year results.”

The company forecasts bottom-line net profit for the quarter to be in line with the year-ago period.