Woolworths CEO announces worse-than-expected financial results for March quarter | Woolworths

In his first public comments since his hostile appearance at the Senate inquiry, Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci delivered worse-than-expected March quarter financial results and admitted the supermarket can “unequivocally improve”.

Sales across the group, which includes New Zealand and Big W stores, rose 2.8% to $16.8 billion in the quarter, while its Australian food sales rose 1.5% to $12.6 billion. of dollars. Average prices fell 0.2%.

As the supermarket posted a modest increase in sales, customers felt the impact of material increases in mortgages, rent, utilities, insurance and other key household expenses this year, he told reporters Thursday morning.

“It was a challenging quarter for the entire group, with a notable change in customer sentiment and purchasing behaviors since Christmas,” he said.

Investors took a dim view of the results, sending Woolworths shares down 4% in morning trading compared to a 0.3% rise for the broader market. Overall, the share price has lost about a fifth of its value since the beginning of the year.

In April, Banducci was threatened with jail by Greens senator Nick McKim at a heated Senate inquiry hearing. He said Thursday that Woolworths took the federal investigation “very seriously.”

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The research was designed to investigate how large supermarkets set prices for buyers and use their market power when dealing with suppliers. Together, Coles and Woolworths control two-thirds of the market.

“In reading all the presentations, I took some very practical steps on how Woolworths can deliver value to customers,” he said.

Clearly communicating unit prices was a key area that needed improvement, he said, as was focusing on providing price transparency to fruit and vegetable growers to enable them to make better decisions.

“The only way to address it is constructively and there are clear learnings and areas we can unequivocally improve,” he said.

Third-quarter sales figures showed that wealthy customers were shopping more frequently and shopping less at each store, he said. For non-food items (including home care and pet care), customers were more “promotion sensitive” and sought out rival retailers, including Bunnings and Kmart, when purchasing those “higher priced” items. .

He said there was a trend toward dine-in and that while the promotions were working well, they were “not a panacea for how we should offer value to consumers.”