Wesfarmers Limited has reported a statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of $2,874 million for the full year ended 30 June 2026. Excluding significant items in the prior period, NPAT increased 8.3 per cent for the year.
Managing Director Rob Scott said the result reflected the resilience of the Group’s businesses and the continued strong execution of its growth agenda. The increase in profit was supported by strong earnings contributions from the Group’s largest divisions, Bunnings Group, Kmart Group and WesCEF.
“Our businesses focused on mitigating cost pressures through productivity initiatives and were able to deliver more value, better service and increased convenience for our retail and business customers. As households continued to experience cost of living pressures, our retail businesses dropped prices on thousands of products during the year to support household budgets.
“Bunnings and Kmart Group’s everyday low prices continued to drive sales and earnings growth. Disciplined execution of strategies helped offset cost pressures and delivered operating leverage across both businesses. Bunnings’ solid trading performance reflected the strength and resilience of its offer and ability to deliver growth through a range of market conditions. Kmart Group’s higher earnings were supported by the strong value credentials of its Anko products and focus on operating efficiency and cost control. Retail growth was supported by range renewal and expansion, together with an acceleration of sales through digital channels,” said Mr Scott.
“While WesCEF’s earnings were affected by the timing of higher ammonia prices due to the Middle East conflict, the division benefited from positive operational performance and an improved contribution from its lithium business. Spodumene concentrate production of 209kt was above both guidance and nameplate capacity. Ramp-up of the refinery was affected by intermittent odour issues throughout the year and installation of mitigation measures commenced in late financial year 2026.
“As previously advised, Officeworks’ earnings reflected one-off costs associated with its transformation program, which commenced during the first half of the 2026 financial year. Successful execution of the program is expected to drive long-term earnings growth by transitioning the business to a low-cost operating model and improving the customer value proposition,” he said.
“Wesfarmers Health delivered higher earnings as its multi-year transformation gained momentum, with strong network sales growth in Priceline Pharmacy, disciplined retail execution and improved performance in Wholesale in a competitive market.
“Industrial and Safety’s underlying earnings increased, driven by higher sales and improved productivity in Blackwoods. In June, we announced the transition of the Industrial and Safety businesses, Blackwoods and Workwear Group, to Bunnings Group, effective 1 July 2026. This transition is aligned with Bunnings’ focus on strengthening its commercial capabilities and brings together businesses with highly complementary customer bases. Blackwoods is well placed to support Bunnings’ offer to commercial customers given its broad range, sophisticated fulfilment capabilities and improvements in profitability and customer service in recent years,” said Mr Scott.
“Led by the Group’s ‘People-first, Digitally-enabled’ approach, new technologies and ways of working were embedded throughout the year to enhance customer experience, support team members and improve efficiency. This included progressing the responsible use of AI to accelerate key strategies, such as AI assistants for team members, and in supply chains, to improve availability, reduce costs and increase sales. Bunnings, Kmart and Officeworks launched their agentic commerce shopping assistants ‘Buddy’, ‘Joy’ and ‘Ollie’ to enhance the online shopping experience. The launch of Kmart’s marketplace and Bunnings’ commercial and services marketplaces delivered positive trading results over the year.
“Wesfarmers’ leading omnichannel assets and capabilities, including the Group’s shared data asset and loyalty programs, continued to deepen customer insights and drive long-term growth. OnePass supported incremental sales in the retail and health divisions and the Group’s retail media network continued to scale,” he said.
“Operating cashflows decreased 6.5 per cent, reflecting deliberate investments in working capital in WesCEF and Health. In WesCEF, this included higher spodumene inventories and investment in additional fertiliser inventory at elevated prices, as a result of supply disruptions from the Middle East conflict. In Health, inventory contingency increased to protect against supply chain disruptions due to the Middle East conflict. These investments reflect temporary decisions to strengthen availability to customers given volatile market conditions. Cash realisation across our retail divisions remained strong at 99 per cent, reflecting disciplined working capital management.
“During the year, the Group paid a capital management distribution of $1.50 per share, totalling $1,703 million, reflecting Wesfarmers’ commitment to effective capital management and enhancing returns to shareholders. The distribution supported a more efficient capital structure while maintaining balance sheet capacity to take advantage of value-accretive opportunities as they arise.
“As a result of the increase in underlying profit, the Wesfarmers Board has determined to pay a fully-franked final dividend of $1.20 per share, bringing total fully-franked ordinary dividends for the year to $2.22 per share, an increase of 7.8 per cent,” said Mr Scott.
Wesfarmers recognises the alignment between sustainability performance and long-term shareholder value, and during the year made good progress on key metrics, including safety and emissions reduction. Group TRIFR improved to 9.1, compared to 9.5 in the prior year, driven by progress in most of the Group’s businesses, most notably WesCEF which achieved a record TRIFR of 0.6. The Group’s Scope 1 and Scope 2 (market-based) emissions reduced 21.9 per cent.
Outlook
Wesfarmers remains well positioned to deliver satisfactory returns to shareholders over the long term, supported by its portfolio of high-quality, resilient businesses and growth platforms. Wesfarmers’ strong and flexible balance sheet supports continued investment across the Group and provides capacity to manage potential risks and opportunities under a range of scenarios.
Wesfarmers recognises the impact of ongoing inflation on households and businesses, and the retail divisions play an important role in the community through offering everyday low prices.
While Australian consumer demand remains resilient, cost of living pressures continue to affect many households across the economy. Uncertainty regarding the outlook for inflation, house prices, interest rates and tax settings are affecting consumer sentiment, while higher costs of doing business are weighing on business confidence and spending.
In this environment, the Group’s retail divisions are well positioned to grow profitably, supported by their strong value credentials, focus on improving the customer experience and expanding addressable markets. The retail divisions will continue to develop their omnichannel capabilities to drive sales and earnings growth, including their agentic commerce solutions, faster and more reliable delivery and growing marketplaces.
The Group also benefits from the diversity of its portfolio and recent investments that create new opportunities for earnings growth, independent of the near-term consumer outlook.
Higher costs of doing business, driven by elevated labour, energy and supply chain costs, are expected to persist in the 2027 financial year. To mitigate these impacts, the divisions will continue to execute their productivity agendas, through a ‘People-first, Digitally-enabled’ approach including digitising operations and leveraging AI and technology to support operating efficiency.
For the first seven weeks of the 2027 financial year, Bunnings’ sales growth was slightly stronger compared to the second half of the 2026 financial year, assisted by unseasonably dry weather in July. Kmart Group’s sales growth was in line with sales growth in the second half of the 2026 financial year. Officeworks maintained positive sales growth, with sales growth slightly below the second half of the 2026 financial year.
Wesfarmers and its joint venture partner remain focused on the ramp-up of the Covalent Lithium refinery, with production rates expected to accelerate through the second half of financial year 2027 as further odour mitigation solutions are implemented. Product qualification with key offtake partners will continue to progress while the refinery ramps up. Spodumene concentrate production at Mt Holland is expected to be in line with nameplate capacity of approximately 380kt (WesCEF share approximately 190kt), with around half of this production to be sold to market.
Wesfarmers Health is well positioned to continue improving earnings by executing its transformation program and capitalising on long-term health and wellness trends. The division remains focused on accelerating growth in its higher-margin Consumer business and building on recent improvements in Wholesale.
Wesfarmers will continue to invest in platforms for long-term growth and shareholder value creation. The Group expects net capital expenditure of between $1,300 million and $1,500 million for the 2027 financial year, subject to net property investment and the timing of project expenditures. This includes approximately $200 million of capital expenditure relating to the expansion of the Mt Holland mine and concentrator. Higher capital expenditure also reflects increased investments in new stores, refurbishments and supply chain across the Group. Investment in the recently announced Built Living joint venture, focusing on an advanced manufacturing facility for modular construction, is due to commence in financial year 2027.
