Woolworths Group FY18 Third Quarter Results

2 May 2018

THIRD QUARTER SALES RESULTS – FINANCIAL YEAR 2018
13 WEEKS TO 1 APRIL 2018

Continued focus on customer experience driving solid sales growth

 

$ MILLION	2018 (13 weeks)	2017 (13 weeks)	change	Easter-Adj Change	COMP Growth	Easter-Adj COMP GROWTH
Australian Food	9,571	9,144	4.7%	4.2%	4.4%	4.0%
Endeavour Drinks	2,004	1,875	6.9%	4.3%	6.1%	3.3%
New Zealand Food (AUD)	1,509	1,482	1.9%	2.2%
New Zealand Food (NZD)	1,633	1,579	3.4%	3.7%	3.5%	3.8%
BIG W	770	747	3.2%	(1.3)%	3.3%	(1.2)%
Hotels	390	376	3.3%	4.0%	3.2%	3.9%
Total third quarter sales from continuing op­­erations*	14,244	13,660	4.3%	3.4%	4.4%	3.6%
Discontinued operation – Petrol	1,215	1,218	(0.3)%	0.2%	(1.3)%	(0.8)%

• Australian Food’s Voice of Customer (VOC) scores continuing to improve with both Overall Customer Satisfaction of 81% and store-controllable VOC of 84% up on the prior year 
• Australian Food comparable sales growth of 4.0% (Easter-adjusted) driven by underlying transaction growth
• Online sales growth remains robust in Australian Food with two new customer fulfilment centres (CFCs) commissioned during the quarter and ongoing growth of Pick up
• 1Store (1POS, centralised ticketing, next generation back office software upgrades) due for completion by end of June for Woolworths Supermarkets and BWS
• BWS and Dan Murphy’s driving solid growth for Endeavour Drinks with Easter-adjusted comparable sales up 3.3%
• New Zealand Food’s planned investments contributing to a second consecutive quarter of strong comparable sales growth with Easter-adjusted comparable sales up 3.8%
• BIG W’s turnaround still a work in progress with Easter-adjusted comparable sales declining by 1.2%, impacted by timing of New Year’s Day and school holidays in NSW
• Comparable sales growth in Hotels across all key categories
• Petrol sales in line with the prior year

Woolworths Group CEO, Brad Banducci said: “We are pleased with the progress we are continuing to make against our key priorities as we pivot from turnaround to transformation. We remain energised by the number of opportunities we see to continue to improve our business.

“Woolworths Group’s sales performance remained strong in the third quarter of FY18 despite cycling much improved prior year growth. Australian and New Zealand Food’s Easter-adjusted comparable sales increased 4.0% and 3.8% respectively despite the impact from the timing of New Year’s Day. Endeavour Drinks’ Easter-adjusted comparable sales increased by 3.3%.  The BIG W turnaround is still a work in progress with sales declining marginally on an Easter-adjusted basis in the quarter.

“Our focus for the remainder of FY18 is on delivering consistently good shopping experiences across all stores and days of the week, embedding current strategic initiatives including ‘Simpler for Stores’ and continuing to improve our digital experience.”

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