Woolworths CEO Grant O’Brien has communicated that he is pleased with the 4.7% growth in full year sales result. He said, “The last quarter in particular was a stronger end to what was a challenging year. Retail conditions remained subdued due to consumer and business uncertainty and an unseasonably cold and wet summer period. The impact of this was exacerbated by significant deflation.”
Supermarkets
Sales in the Supermarket division totaled AU$48,564 billion in 2012, an increase of 4.9% from AU$46312 billion in 2011. Of the supermarket sales figure, sales of food and liquor increased by 3.8% from AU$36,176 billion 2011 to AU$37,549 billion in 2012.
In Australia, 38 new supermarkets were opened by Woolworths in 2012, bringing the total number of Woolworths supermarkets in Australia to 872.
Sales in New Zealand supermarkets was NZ$5,522 billion in 2012, an increase of 3% from NZ$5,362 billion in 2011.
Petrol
Petrol sales for the full year, including Woolworths/Caltex alliance sites were AU$6,714 billion in 2012, an increase of 11.4% compared to AU$6025 billion 2011. Woolworths opened 18 petrol canopies during 2012, this brings the total to 599 (including 132 Woolworths/Caltex alliance sites).
Big W sales increased by 0.5% to AU$4180 billion compared to AU$4158 billion in 2011. Seven new Big W stores were opened in 2012, bringing the total to 172 stores.
Acquisitions
The Woolworths group acquired 12 hotels in Western Australia from the Compass group and opened another five hotels in 2012. Four hotels and one managed club was closed down in 2012. This takes Woolworth’s total number of venues to 294. Hotel sales for the year were AU$1.2 billion in 2012 representing an increase of 4.4%. Home improvement sales increased by 24.7% to AU$828 million in 2012.
Woolworth’s business venture with TATA in India now services 77 stores operating under the Croma brand. Sales for the full year 2012 were $AU353 million which represented a 9.6% increase from AU$322 million in 2011.
