Woolworths Group’s sales from continuing operations increased by 6.2% to $63.7 billion in F20 (or 8.1% on a normalised basis), according to the company’s latest results.
“At our half-year results in February, we spoke about the many challenges the communities we operate in had faced including drought, bushfires, the White Island tragedy in New Zealand and unrest in Hong Kong,” says Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci.
“At the time, no one would have imagined how the rest of the year would unfold with the devastating impact of Covid-19.
“Our main priority for F21 is making CovidSafe a part of everything we do.
“I again want to recognise the way our team has continued to respond to the ongoing challenges, and I continue to be inspired by our team’s collective commitment to do the right thing.”
Australian Food
Australian Food F20 sales were $42.2 billion, an increase of 8.3% on a normalised basis with comparable sales increasing 7.3% (8.2% excluding tobacco).
Supermarkets F20 total sales grew 7% on a normalised basis to $38.4 billion.
H1 sales growth of 6.4% benefitted from the success of the Lion King Ooshies and Woolworths Discovery Garden community campaigns.
In H2, total sales growth of 10.4% on a normalised basis was driven by Covid-19 pantry-loading and higher in-home consumption through lockdown and community movement restrictions.
Metro Food Stores F20 total sales grew 5.1% on a normalised basis to $943 million. Q4 was said to have been materially impacted by Covid-19 lockdown measures which reduced food traffic across the CBD and transport hubs.
During the year, 27 new stores were opened (12 Supermarkets and 15 Metro Food Stores). Six Supermarkets were converted to Metro Food Stores and 69 renewals were completed. At year end, there were 987 Woolworths Supermarkets and 64 Metro Food Stores.
WooliesX
F20 was another “transformative” year for Woolies X.
Digital and ecommerce growth was said to already have been “very strong” but experienced a “step-change” in Q3 due to the onset of Covid-19.
Woolworths says the surge in demand for ecommerce services initially impacted sales and the customer experience, but the business “rapidly” adapted and added capacity in Q4 to resume all normal services and provide additional capacity and convenience to customers.
Endeavour Drinks
Endeavour Drinks’ total sales increased by 9.9% (normalised) to $9.3 billion for the year, with comparable sales increasing 7.9%.
In Q4, total sales grew at 23.2% on a normalised basis with higher in-home consumption due to government restrictions significantly limiting on-premise consumption.