Endeavour Group, owners of BWS and Dan Murphy’s bottleshops, has sustained sales momentum after an exceptionally strong year following COVID-19.

Sales were down but only by 0.2 per cent in retail for the first quarter of its 2022 financial year, to $2.7 billion. This was in comparison to the same quarter in its last financial year when COVID-19 venue restrictions were in full swing. Sales since the comparable quarter two years ago have risen 21.4 per cent.

In the states which have not suffered major lockdowns – Queensland, the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania – sales increased 17 per cent over the two-year period, Endeavour revealed.

Online sales however have continued their upward trend in this latest quarter to 3rd October 2021, rising 34.4 per cent to $305 million for the first quarter, again mainly attributable to the shift to at-home consumption, although Endeavour said this also grew outside of NSW and Victoria.

Inevitably, hotels meanwhile saw a bigger decline, of 9.9 per cent to 282 million.

Endeavour group managing director Steve Donohue said that the hotels business was disrupted by ongoing lockdowns in key states, and 40 per cent of its hotels were closed across the quarter with ongoing trading restrictions across the country.

“The Group is well positioned for growth, with a diversified portfolio of quality hotels, strong retail brands and digital assets, supported by a focused and resilient team,” he said.

Endeavour made its solo debut on the ASX earlier this year after demerging from Woolworths Group.