Woolworths quarterly sales lift nearly 3% but miss ‘aspirations’
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The news: Woolworths Group has reported a 2.7% increase in sales for the first quarter of FY26 compared to the previous corresponding period, but the company’s CEO Amanda Bardwell described this as “below our aspirations”.
The numbers: Australian Food sales gained 2.1% to $13.89 billion from $13.61 billion in the previous corresponding period. Of this, Woolworths Food Retails sales gained 3.8% when excluding tobacco.
Australian business-to-business sales lifted 6.2% to $1.57 billion from $1.47 billion.
Meanwhile, New Zealand Food sales gained 2.5% to $1.98 billion from $1.93 billion. The W Living segment posted sales growth of 3.3% to $1.39 billion from $1.35 billion.
Sales through ecommerce also lifted 13.2% to $2.7 billion compared to the previous comparable period.
The context: Woolworths said customer metrics “continued to improve in Q1”. The company flagged a “challenging start to the quarter” but noted that “customer investment was increased to drive customer traffic and sales and respond to competitor activity”.
This included new Everyday Rewards campaigns, increased ecommerce offers and an increase in weekly promotions.
What they said: “While the Q1 sales performance was below our aspirations and there remains more to do, the changes we are making to improve value, convenience and availability are being recognised by our customers,” Woolworths group CEO Amanda Bardwell said.
“Looking ahead, we are cautiously optimistic about our key trading quarter and we have strong plans in place for our customers for the festive season including a refreshed seasonal range.”
The source: ASX
