Australia's Woolworths first-quarter sales rise on price cuts, Ooshies campaign

Oct 28 (Reuters) - Woolworths Group WOW.AX reported a 4.7% rise in first-quarter sales on Wednesday as price cuts, range overhauls and a popular Disney Ooshies collectibles promotion supported its core Australian Food division.

Sales at its Australian Food segment rose 6.9% over the quarter, benefitting at the start from its Disney DIS.N Ooshies campaign that ran from mid-July till late August. The grocer also banked on strategies such as the Customer Offer Reset and promotion runs to attract customers.

Australia has grappled with inflation since the US-Israeli war on Iran drove up fuel and raw material costs, prompting several central bank rate hikes this year and pushing shoppers toward discounts, specials and cheaper private-label products to stretch their budgets.

The country's largest supermarket chain reported group sales of A$19.35 billion ($13.60 billion) for the 14 weeks ended October 4, higher than A$18.48 billion in the prior year but largely in line with Visible Alpha's consensus estimate of A$19.34 billion.

($1 = 1.4229 Australian dollars)