Australian grocer Coles slips as intense competition dents early second-quarter sales

(Corrects paragraph 11 to say three-month period ended September 27, not September 30; drop repeated word from paragraph 1) Oct 30 (Reuters) Australia s Coles said on Friday that heightened promotional activity by competitors ​hurt early second-quarter sales, as cost-conscious shoppers sought bargains, sending ‌its shares to a more than five-month low. The stock fell as much as 12.8% to A$20.47 by 2353 GMT, marking their worst intraday session and was among the worst performer in the broader S P/ASX 200 index, which rose 0.7%. The country s second-largest grocer ‌said ​shoppers continued to compare prices across retailers and ⁠channels, while making greater use ⁠of promotions and loyalty programmes to manage household budgets. Supermarket sales growth slowed in the first four weeks of the second quarter from 3.6% in the first quarter, missing a Visible Alpha consensus forecast of ​5% for second quarter. Coles said it was taking deliberate actions to strengthen momentum , including r