The Australian retail chain Wesfarmers reported lower-than-expected revenues in the last quarter, and is forecasted to continue with its downslide returns in the next three months.

Latest figures released by the retail giant showed that food and liquor stores revenues grew by 3.8 percent which was way below early projections.

This was on the back of strong sales growth by supermarket giant Coles, one the leading food retailers in Australia, which posted a 4.9 percent sales growth during the same period. The better-than-expected sales figures also boosted positive performance from the convenience business which rose 9.1 percent.

On the other hand, discount retailers Target and Kmart were hit by the tightening economy as budget-conscious consumers and the saturating market competitions affected their revenues. Sales of Target remained flat in the last quarter, but Kmart said it saw its sales figure expanding by 4 percent.

The two retailers are expecting their sales figure to drop by 0.5 percent after income figures are adjusted from sales reports from Easter.

But Wesfarmers said its other major retail businesses, including home improvement and office supplies, registered solid growth estimated to be around 7.7 percent.

Wesfarmer's managing director Richard Goyder, said in a statement, "Progress on strategies across the retail businesses remains on track. Solid volume growth, particularly in the Group's turnaround businesses, continues to show that customers are responding well to improvements in retail offerings."