Woolworths’ food and liquor division reported revenue of $10.35 billion, and $13.2 billion across the entire supermarket division in Australia and New Zealand. The revenue was slightly higher than Coles $9.9 billion announced yesterday, in spite of Coles’ stronger sales growth.
Australian Food and Liquor performed well, growing by $0.9 billion, and continued to increase market share, customer numbers, basket size and items sold when compared to the same period last year. Effective promotional activities, leveraging growing customer data capabilities, and the return to inflation in produce were reported to have assisted this result.
Woolworths Chief Executive Grant O’Brien said the “solid result” was a reflection on the focus to better meet customers’ needs.
“The growth our businesses are achieving while pursuing a transformational path for Woolworths is pleasing. However, there is still a great deal more to do,” Mr O’Brien said.
Managing Director Australian Supermarkets and Petrol, Tjeerd Jegen, said that supermarket success was driven by strong sales in December, with produce, seafood and meat departments exceeding performance expectations.
“We have improved our performance in packaged goods but remain focused on building further momentum in this area to achieve the results we are targeting,” Mr Jegen said.
“The continuation of our ‘For Less For Families’ program as well as the launch of our ‘Cash For Christmas’ campaign have all been well received,” Mr Jegen added.
