Nov 1 (Reuters) - Australia's Woolworths (WOW) on Thursday said its first-quarter sales rose 1.9 percent, after a slow start to the period as the supermarket giant began charging shoppers for plastic bags took a toll.
Total sales from continuing operations came in at A$14.85 billion ($10.50 billion) for the 14 weeks to Sept. 30, down from A$14.57 billion a year earlier.
Australian food sales rose 1.8 percent on a comparable store basis, Woolworths said in a statement. Comparable sales exclude new store openings. ($1 = 1.4136 Australian dollars)