Wesfarmers has recorded positive sales results for all of its retail businesses in the first half of the financial year.

Managing director Richard Goyder said that he was generally pleased with the sales results, in particular the solid performance of Coles, Bunnings and Kmart.

“The retail businesses continue to improve their customer offers, with record numbers of shoppers visiting our stores during the Christmas period,”  he said.

The strongest results were reported by Coles, which recorded a 4.7 per cent in sales from $17.5 billion from the previous corresponding year to $18.3 billion. These results represent the fifteenth consecutive quarter of growth in comparable sales and sales density.

Coles managing director Ian McLeod said the turnaround commitment to improve quality, service and value has attracted more customers into Coles stores and continues to benefit suppliers through increased volumes.

“The response to our initiatives has been encouraging, with a record number of customers and almost $1 billion of sales achieved in the week leading up to Christmas. In particular, our customers are increasingly recognising the quality of our fresh food offer, with growing customer participation in our fresh food categories which has been reinforced by Coles’ Helping Australia Grow campaign.

“The underlying performance of liquor improved in the first half as a result of encouraging wine category performance and more effective promotions in the run up to Christmas.

Similarly, Bunnings saw a 5.7 per cent lift in sales to $4 billion, while Kmart reported a 3.5 per cent increase in total sales for the half year to $2.3 billion.

Kmart managing director Guy Russo said the business was particularly pleased with the continued growth in transactions and units sold.

 “The focus on driving volume and improving our operational execution resulted in good performance in stores across Australia and New Zealand. Growth in the quarter was also well supported by the pleasing performance of our seasonal and everyday core ranges,” he said.

Positive results were also seen by Target who reached a 1.2 per cent lift and Officeworks that saw a 0.3 per cent increase.